Tourism Promotion Strategy for Azores Destination during IATA Winter 2024/2025 presented - Communication

Secretaria Regional do Turismo, Mobilidade e Infraestruturas

The Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures and Visit Azores presented the Azores Destination Tourism Promotion Strategy for IATA Winter 2024/2025 at a press conference held today in Ponta Delgada, with an expected direct investment of 2.5 million Euros.

Berta Cabral, the Regional Secretary for Tourism, told journalists that the Regional Government's commitment "is to ensure that tourism in the Region develops in a sustainable, balanced and harmonious manner with local needs."

"We are working to promote the Azores as a tourist destination with a year-round tourism offer, mitigating seasonality and maximising the benefits for the local economy," she said.

Coordinated by the Regional Government, through the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures, in cooperation with Visit Azores and conjunction with SATA Group, the strategy focuses on promoting IATA winter tourism with campaigns with the airlines operating in the Region, covering the shoulder and low seasons.

The aim is to promote the progressive expansion of air operations. In this regard, five of the 13 airlines operating in the Azores will already have international flights during the 2024/2025 IATA winter season, namely Edelweiss, Lufthansa, Smartwings, Transavia and Azores Airlines.

Azores Airlines will continue its international flights to New York, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Barcelona and Paris, introducing flights to Milan, Faro and New York from Terceira for the first time this winter.

The Azores' promotional efforts also include the application, for the first time, of the new Visit Azores Incentive Regulations, which will cover Tour Operators and Online Travel Agencies in the source markets with direct routes during the winter and indirect routes with a stopover in Lisbon (Germany and Switzerland).

International operators were directly selected in each of the markets of strategic interest (USA, France, Spain, Italy and Germany), favouring a new individualised and personalised approach.

Two campaigns were created for the national market in conjunction with SATA. One involved Abreu and Pingo Doce, and the other involved Bestravel. These campaigns will promote packages for each of the region's nine islands at the same price.

The strategy also includes attracting events, namely:

•  European Travel Agent Forum (October | Terceira) - 150 US guests.

• ACTA Congress - Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (November | São Miguel & Terceira) - 150 Canadian guests.

• AIRMET Convention (November | Terceira) - 400 national guests.

• Bestravel Convention (January | Faial & Pico) - 200 national guests.

The following events will also be promoted by the Regional Directorate for Tourism:

• Azores Tourism Summit (November | São Miguel) - 350 guests.

• Accessible Tourism Reflection Days (all islands | several months) - 250 guests.

The development and promotion of nature tourism and the Azores Routes is an important factor in terms of tourism products, with a particular focus on the low season, given the appetite for these products at that time of year. In this context, special emphasis is given to the Nordeste Great Route (hiking), the Maritime Explorations Route, the Industrial Tourism Route and the Cheese Route, soon to be opened.

The Azores destination is promoted throughout the year, namely through participation in fairs, workshops and webinars, educational trips (fam trips, press trips and influencers), among other initiatives, and through the Azores What's On digital agenda.

As Berta Cabral said, “There is work to be done, both by public and private entities, which involves developing and improving tourism products, planning and also external promotion.”

“For this reason, we are now presenting a promotional plan for IATA Winter 2024-2025, prepared by Visit Azores, with various strategic actions, including major events and promotional initiatives for selected markets,” she said.

Meanwhile, she underlined the Regional Government's serious commitment to mitigating seasonality, adding: “We have chosen this as the major challenge to overcome with a view to balancing the sector's production and productivity, guaranteeing stability to the activity and predictability to the income of tourism businesses and professionals in the Azores."

“We have a very clear course of what we want for tourism in the Azores, with priorities identified and goals set, and all the determination to fulfill them,” she said.

The promotion of tourism in the Azores will continue at all times, and news will be announced in due course for the 2025 summer, including new flight connections.