The Regional Secretary for Tourism and Transport stated in Vila do Porto that the new accessibility mode, in force since March 29, 2015, "benefited all islands" of the archipelago.
 
Vítor Fraga spoke at the delivery ceremony of "Columbus Trail Run" awards. According to him, the island of Santa Maria recorded last year "an increase of 58.4% in the number of disembarking passengers from territorial flights," i.e., "there was an increase of 2,064 disembarking passengers on the island of Santa Maria in the flights connecting Santa Maria to Lisbon."
 
"This is, without doubt, a good indicator of the model's success, which goes far beyond the liberalisation of routes from Lisbon and Porto to Ponta Delgada and Terceira," said Vítor Fraga.
 
The Regional Secretary recalled that the Regional Government defended its position in "a certain manner, from the beginning to end, so that all Azoreans could be on equal footing."
 
"We have reached a model that favours equality, providing the Azores with conditions to operate as if we were a single airport, regardless of the island where we have access to a destination outside the region," added the government official.
 
"It was this valuable work, often endured with hard-fought negotiations with the National Government, which has led us to a good mobility and accessibility solution, such as the one implemented in our Region," said Vítor Fraga.
 
Stressing that "accessibility and mobility are precious assets for those who live in an archipelago," such as the Azores, the Regional Secretary stressed that the Government has never stopped "defending the interests of the Azores and the Azoreans throughout this process, with the creation of equal conditions with regard to the mobility for all Azoreans from Santa Maria to Corvo. Furthermore, the Government has created the conditions so that new companies can enter the Azorean market and, therefore, bring in competitiveness factors that could lead to the reduction of costs and to an increase in the flow of tourists. Therefore, the mobility and accessibility of the Azorean people will reach a new level."
 
"Today, any Azorean, from Santa Maria to Corvo, can travel to Mainland Portugal without paying more than 134 Euros," Vítor Fraga said, stressing that "this is a true measure of economic, social and territorial cohesion that has been implemented in the Region by the determination of the Regional Government."
 
"We have neither called into question nor relinquished the defence of what is essential for us," said the government official.
 
The Regional Secretary also recalled that the tourism sector has been built in the Azores step by step.
 
"We started with the creation of infrastructures that were non-existent, we invested in the qualification of our tourism offer, and we defined a promotional strategy to enhance our visibility with tourism markets in a solid and consistent manner in order to avoid biting off more than one can chew. The result of this strategy is evident today," said the government official.
 
In this regard, he recalled that "the tourism sector in the Azores had the best year ever in 2015; we have beaten record after record and this does not happen by chance."
 
Vítor Fraga also stressed that the Trail Run was introduced in the Azores "with this Government and with the valuable help of all those who have contributed with their efforts to the development of this activity, which does not come by chance."
 
"It happened because this activity is clearly linked to one of our main tourism products, which are pedestrian trails," the government official said, adding that "more than 55% of people visiting the Azores enjoy our pedestrian trails and the investment in Trail Run is primarily intended to define and assess our tourism offer."
 
The Regional Secretary congratulated all the athletes who participated in this event, thanking and praising the work of all volunteers who joined "the organisation of this event magnificent event promoted by the Government of the Azores in a unique way." The government official also mentioned the "public and private entities that collaborated with us in the organisation of this event."
 
"We have never left anyone behind and the organisation of Columbus trail on Santa Maria is precisely the evidence of that, an event that aims to boost the tourism sector on that island," said Vítor Fraga. The government official invited all participants, who will also take part in other Trail Run events to be held in the archipelago throughout the year, “to schedule their participation in Columbus Trail Run 2017," which will take place on the last weekend of February next year.