The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport presented in Lajes das Flores the five priorities set by the Government of the Azores for the tourism sector, which is steadily becoming one of the economic and social development pillars of the Region.

Vítor Fraga spoke at the presentation ceremony of the "Grand Route of Flores," a 40-kilometre pedestrian trail that will allow visitors to become better acquainted with the rich landscape and heritage of the island, which embodies the Regional Government's investment in active nature tourism. In this context, the government official stressed the importance of seizing the potential of the natural features and landscape of the archipelago, always in a perspective of sustainability that will enhance the quality of the Azores as a tourist destination.

"In this regard, the Regional Government identified five priorities to guide the organisation of tourism products and decision-making process in terms market approaches, allocation of resources and the choice of the most appropriate distribution channels," said the government official.

"As a first priority, we intend to enhance the attractiveness of the destination and develop the tourism offer in a perspective of complementarity between islands with products that are in line with the target markers," said the Regional Secretary for Tourism.

The second priority concerns the improvement of the tourism offer, together with local operators, in terms of existing infrastructures and those to be developed in the future. It also aims to raise the awareness of the population for the importance of tourism, investment in the qualification of human resources as well as to create and implement the concept of service of the Azores.

The centralisation of the marketing effort will be the third priority in order to "attract high-value markets, that is, environmentally conscious tourists who want travel around the archipelago, travel to the Azores in the low season, participate in several activities, consume local products and who are strongly inclined to repeat the visit," added Vítor Fraga.

The fourth priority concerns the development of partnerships with several industry partners, including tour operators, entrepreneurs, airports, airlines and maritime companies, in order to maximise marketing efforts and achieve even better results for our destination.

"As a fifth priority, the Government will focus the efforts with distribution channels that are best suited to the accomplishment of our goals towards the target markets. The five priorities are embodied in the Regional Strategic and Marketing Plan for the period 2015-20," added Vítor Fraga.

Under the definition of priorities for the sector, the Regional Secretary highlighted the revision process of the Tourism Management Plan of the Autonomous Region of the Azores (POTRAA) in compliance the provision of the Government's Programme.

 "Apart from the need to improve the approach on development of tourism products, the revision of POTRAA will ensure a better structuring of the tourism offer in the most relevant products, being a key tool to meet the current challenges Azorean tourism," said the government official.

Vítor Fraga also stressed that POTRAA should include a new concept of sustainable development in the Azores, taking into consideration "a comprehensive vision encompassing economic sector and those related to tourism that identify the ideal tourism flows as well as the strategic and complementary resources of each island for tourism and support services."

As an example of the specificities of each island that can seize different potentials for tourism activities, Vítor Fraga highlighted the distinctive features of Flores, "with special emphasis on the activities that privilege the contact with nature, such as cannoning, diving, bird watching and hiking."

"This is one of the islands that contribute the most to the projection of the Azores as a nature tourism destination," said the government official.

With regard to pedestrian trails, such as the one presented today, Vítor Fraga emphasised that these trails were one of the major investments of the Government and, nowadays, are a well established product in the Region. Currently, there are more than 80 approved trails throughout the archipelagos, covering an area over 716 kilometres.

"Currently, pedestrian trails are a tourist attraction in the Region, sought after by many tourists who visit us," the Regional Secretary said, adding that "the most recent data reveal that more than 50% of the tourists who visit us have used our trails."