Berta Cabral Announces Summer Visitor Flow Monitoring Plan for Corvo Island - Communication

Secretaria Regional do Turismo, Mobilidade e Infraestruturas

The Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructures, Berta Cabral, announced this week the launch of the Corvo Island Visitor Flow Monitoring Plan – Summer 2026, an initiative aimed at collecting objective and accurate information on tourist activity throughout the peak season.

Coordinated by the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure, through Açoress DMO, the plan, presented during the recent statutory visit to Corvo, has as its main goal to gain a deeper understanding of the reality of tourist flows on the island and create a solid information base to support future decisions on the sustainable management of this destination.

According to Berta Cabral, this initiative addresses concerns raised by the local community and various organisations on the island regarding increased tourist pressure during the summer months, particularly associated with tourist boat trips from the island of Flores.

“Corvo is a unique destination of great environmental, scenic and cultural relevance. It is essential to ensure that the growth of tourism continues to benefit the local population, whilst safeguarding its natural resources and the quality of the experience offered to visitors,” stated the government official.

The plan aims to monitor, in terms of both quantity and quality, visitor flows, their behaviour patterns, and the resulting impacts on the mobility, infrastructure, local services, natural resources, and quality of life of the resident population.

The work will take place between July and September 2026 and will include a comprehensive set of measures to collect and analyse information in the field.

One of the plan’s key components concerns the monitoring of visitor arrivals by sea and air, providing a daily count of tourist flows and identifying periods of peak demand. On-site visitor counts will also be carried out at the Corvo Port, along with the collection of data on sea arrivals from Flores.

The plan also includes a survey of existing accommodation and catering capacity with a view to assessing the response capacity of the existing tourism offer and identifying any mismatches between demand and available services.

Another key aspect will be monitoring the pressure on the island’s main tourist attractions, notably the Caldeirão and the hiking trails, through direct observation, visitor counts and the collection of information on congestion, space use and any environmental impacts.

At the same time, the “Corvo Visitor Survey” will be implemented. It consists of a visitor satisfaction survey designed to gather information on tourists’ profiles, motivations, the quality of the experience offered by the destination, and their perception of visitor numbers. The initiative will be complemented by gathering feedback from the local community and the island’s key economic and tourism stakeholders regarding the impacts of tourism.

The plan also provides for the creation of a series of indicators to monitor trends in tourist demand, including the daily number of visitors, hourly peaks in visitor numbers, the use of footpaths, visitor numbers at key points of interest, visitor satisfaction levels and residents’ perceptions.

The results will be compiled into a technical report to be submitted by the end of 2026, serving as a tool to support the formulation of future public policies for the island.

Key expected outcomes include obtaining, for the first time, objective data on Corvo’s tourist carrying capacity, identifying daily pressure thresholds, strengthening the destination’s sustainability, and improving the balance between tourism development and the quality of life of the local population.

The information collected may, at a later stage, inform the assessment of several visitor management measures, including the possible definition of daily visitor limits, the management of arrival times, the upgrading of infrastructure and support services, or the implementation of mechanisms to regulate tourist flows.

“The Azorean Government’s strategy involves promoting sustainable, balanced tourism that generates value for local communities. This plan represents a further step towards that commitment, enabling decisions to be made based on data and knowledge,” concluded Berta Cabral.