The Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Transport revealed today in Ponta Delgada that the Strategic Plan for Azores Tourism 2014-2020 should be concluded by end of May.

Vítor Fraga stressed that, after hearing market agents, the Government will continue to collect contributions throughout the archipelago in order to decide on the actions to be taken in this increasingly relevant sector of regional economy.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the conference "Tourism 2020: Action Plan for the Development of Tourism in Portugal," where he was featured as guest speaker, the Regional Secretary stressed that the strategic plan "has been conducting the analysis of the profile of tourists who visit the Azores or potential tourists." Now, we will move forward to another stage "with the organisation of open meetings on all islands, where everyone can provide their contribution to the strategic development of sector for 2020 in order its capacity to generate wealth, maintain and create jobs."

Vítor Fraga emphasised that the Government will not only hear the sector representatives, but also the entire population, since the Regional Government believes that "tourism will only be good if it is actually good for all those living in the Region." In this regard, the government official recalled that the Strategic Plan, and other factors, such as changes in accessibility, will make 2015 "a year of hard work" for industry partners.

Under the regional strategy for Tourism, the Regional Secretary safeguarded the need for national authorities to strengthen their support to the promotion of the Azores, which will enhance the contribution of the archipelago to the national tourism offer.

"We are perfectly aware of the contribution we can provide to the national tourism offer in terms of diversity and quality. We hope too that national authorities share the same view," Vítor Fraga said, reminding that the recent past errors cannot be repeated in the national tourism strategy.

"It is time for national authorities to realise that acknowledging the distinctive aspects of each region is fundamental to the consolidation and growth of the sector. It is time for Turismo de Portugal to revise the criteria on the support for the promotion of the Regions," stressed the government official.
 
"In case of the Azores, this support is set at 2.5% of the investment made by the Region in this area," said Vítor Fraga. According to him, "it is necessary to introduce qualitative factors in addition to the quantitative factors defining the amount of support."

For the Regional Secretary, "it is time to look at tourism instead of show-off statistics. Tourism is made by people for people. And people are much more than a mere figure."

Vítor Fraga assured that the Azores are always available to collaborate in the context of the national tourism offer. We also hope that "national public entities receive our input and realise that the Azores may effectively bring added value to the tourism offer."
 
In this regard, the government official conveyed his hope that "tourism will be regarded in the future not as a sector that provides good moments of communication and good moments of political campaign, but as a sector with potential to generate wealth, create and maintain jobs."