The Regional Tourism and Transport Secretary stated in Angra do Heroísmo that the Regional Government has always believed in the development of tourism "in the region and, in particular, on the island of Terceira."
 
"About a year ago, there were some doubts about the success of this operation, but we always believed because we constantly refuse to lower our arms and give up," said Vítor Fraga. The government official spoke at the presentation of the reinforcement of the operation connecting Madrid to Terceira throughout the year.
 
"When criticisms arose about a year ago, because we had an 8% growth rate, we always believed it was possible to increase this rate of growth and, above all, the profitability of the sector, either in the region or on the island of Terceira," added the government official.
 
The Secretary for Tourism stressed that "today it widely acknowledged that the tourism sector is experiencing a new dynamic phase that is being consolidated," as evidenced by the indicators.
 
"As for overnight stays in our Region, traditional hotel accommodation registered 865,788 overnight stays from January to July 2016, which represents a growth of 173,452 overnight stays, i.e., 25.1%," Vítor Fraga said, adding that "if we compare with the beginning of this legislative period in 2012 this growth rises to 62%."
 
In the case of the Spanish market, "the first seven months of this year registered a total of 56,509 overnight stays in the Region, corresponding to a growth of 95.4% over the same period of last year," Vítor Fraga said, adding that "if we look at the beginning of the legislative period this growth stands at 107%."
 
Vítor Fraga added that Spain is the "fourth main tourism market in the Region, after Portugal, Germany and the USA. However, this dynamic growth on Terceira Island is even higher than the regional average. In the first seven months of 2016, this island registered 68,583 more overnight stays than those recorded in the same period of 2015," representing a growth of 81%.
 
In this regard, he stressed that the Spanish market is "the second largest tourism market on the island of Terceira, with 35,357 overnight stays in 2016 compared with 4,441 overnight stays in 2015," i.e., "an increase of 696% in terms of overall overnight stays."
 
For the Regional Secretary, "revenue is also as important the number of overnight stays." The revenue generated by traditional hotel accommodation on Terceira Island "surpassed 5.5 million Euros, that is, a growth of 51.4% over the same period of 2015."
 
The reinforcement of the operation presented today has a potential of about 60 thousand overnight stays, which, according to Vítor Fraga, represents "8,295 more overnight stays than in 2015/2016" and "an increase of 10,668 for the remaining islands."
 
"We are in the face of a global operation that has a potential for 76,720 overnight stays in the entire Region, representing 18,963 more overnight stays compared to the previous year. It foresees the growth and consolidation of the operation itself by almost 33%," said the government official.
 
Furthermore, the Regional Secretary alluded to the World Tourism Day, which is marked today, noting that "tourism, as everyone knows, is an industry of feelings and an industry that requires intensive investment towards sustainability."
 
Recalling that the World Tourism Organisation chose the theme "Tourism for all: promoting universal access" to mark the event, Vítor Fraga pointed out that "this theme fully fits the development strategy for this sector that the Government has been implementing in the Region."
 
"A strong focus on accessible tourism in a destination with our characteristics is a unique and very strong differentiation element," said the Regional Secretary.