Berta Cabral considers SIMIFTA strategic milestone in modernisation of regional tourism management - Communication

Secretaria Regional do Turismo, Mobilidade e Infraestruturas

The Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures, Berta Cabral, promoted the presentation of SIMIFTA –Azores Smart Tourist Flow Monitoring System last Wednesday in Lisbon, as part of BTL, highlighting it as “a strategic milestone in the modernisation of regional tourism management.”

According to the government official, this tool "by providing reliable and real-time information on visitor behaviour enhances our capacity for informed decision-making, contributing to a more sustainable, balanced and smart management of the Azores as a tourist destination."

SIMIFTA represents an innovative data-driven approach, allowing tourist flows to be understood, predicted and managed with greater accuracy and efficiency.

Berta Cabral also stressed that "technological integration and collaboration between public and private entities confer the project a cross-cutting and structuring dimension, which is essential for achieving the goals set out in PEMTA 2030, particularly in the areas of sustainability, quality, competitiveness and territorial cohesion."

The government added that SIMIFTA positions the Region "at the forefront of smart tourism monitoring, promoting a more balanced, innovative and future-oriented development model for regional tourism."

The MONITOR portal, accessible at https://monitor.azores.gov.pt, will be the central platform for processing and making available the data collected for each of the 27 SIMIFTA indicators.

The raw information is automatically processed, validated and converted into operational and strategic analyses, made available through interactive dashboards. These visualisations facilitate the interpretation of large data volumes, leading to the identification of trends, patterns and situations that require immediate response to be identified.

The platform will provide real-time data on profiles, mobility and visitation patterns on the nine islands, strengthening support for decisions geared towards the sustainability and balance of the destination.

The project is funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), under the Administrative Modernisation Incentive System.

SIMIFTA's technical structure combines smart sensors, predictive analysis with Artificial Intelligence, and interactive dashboards, allowing for real-time monitoring of flows, impact prediction through machine learning, and support for strategic decisions based on objective indicators.

The system integrates 27 indicators, distributed across five categories: visitor profile, length of stay and mobility; economy, spatial context and digital presence.

Indicators include: point of entry and exit; socio-demographic profile; purchasing power; digital literacy; tourist preferences; length of stay; mobility patterns; financial transactions; digital behaviour; weather conditions; number of people and vehicles per time period, among others.

The indicators are fed by data from more than 15 partner entities, including Vodafone, airports, VisitAzores, INE/SREA (statistics services), municipalities, tour operators, and private sector companies.

In addition, smart sensor equipment has been installed at 27 Tourist Points of Interest on the nine islands, allowing real-time reporting of visitor flows.