Berta Cabral highlighted the success of the Azores' presence in this year's edition of the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL) - which took place in the capital, between Wednesday 28 February and Sunday 3 March, and pointed out the good prospects for tourism in 2024.

The Regional Secretary for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure, cited in a statement from the Azorean executive (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM), states that the participation and stand of the Azores in the BTL constituted “a huge success”.

Berta Cabral was “very optimistic” regarding the future of tourism and its importance for the Azorean economy, however, she added that “there are challenges arising from the current international situation”.

“All of this moderates our forecasts, but we are very convinced that 2024 will be another year with excellent performance, especially because the information we have been collecting from the companies and professionals present at BTL is that they expect another year of great success in the Azores”, she admitted.

This year, the Azores were BTL's guest national destination and the region's stand, which had the slogan “Açores All Year”, saw “several thousand people”, according to the note from the Regional Tourism Secretariat, Mobility and Infrastructures.

“We have an extremely positive assessment of the Azorean participation in the largest tourism fair in the country. The professionals in the sector and the thousands of people who had the opportunity to discover the best that the Azores have to offer to those who visit us are unanimous in recognising the success of our participation in BTL. We had an informative and promotional programme about the best that is done in the world”, highlighted Berta Cabral.

The official said that the central message of the Azorean participation in the fair had the main purpose of “continuing to work to mitigate seasonality [of tourism], one of the main strategic objectives, at the same time that it showed that the Azores are indisputably a sustainable destination”.

BTL, in her opinion, “is one of the most important tools to continue boosting the main tourism source market in the Azores - the national market”.

And, at a time when the Azores “break all records in terms of tourism”, the official highlights that the event allowed “to show the wealth of the region and the increase in tourist supply to other destinations”, as well as the fact that the Azores to be "an international success story in the area of ​​sustainable tourism”.

Berta Cabral warned, however, of the need to “permanently monitor economic, environmental and social sustainability”, always taking into account the reality of each of the nine islands in the archipelago.

“Tourism has to create value for the economy, it has to create value for the population. Tourism is only good if it is good for visitors and residents. We cannot forget that the Azores are a young destination”, she stressed.

The holder of the Azorean tourism portfolio also reaffirms in the note that the sector is increasing “a lever of the regional economy”, and, in her opinion, “it is very important to have a combination of efforts to maintain the sustainability of the destination and create new proposals of value for its differentiation”.