PS/Azores advocates more flights and alerts on Visit Azores inaction

O PS/Açores today argued that the region “needs more airlines” and “more flights” throughout the year, demanded “stability” and “previsibility” in tourism and warned about the “invention” of the promotion association Visit Azores.

“ We need more companies, more flights, more places and calls all year round. That's not just about tourism. More companies mean more competition. More competition creates conditions for greater choice and more competitive prices and this is fundamental for the Azoreans,” said Marlene Damião.

The Socialist spoke in the plenary of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores, in Horta, at the opening of the urgent debate called by the PS on “public policies to encourage tourism”, at a time when sleeping has been falling for 11 consecutive months in the region.

Marlene Damião stated that “the return of Ryanair should be a priority”, as the company abandoned the region in March, but considered that “Azores cannot depend on a single carrier”.

“The sector needs planning, predictability and continuity and not suspended support or decisions made when the problems have already had consequences.”.

The socialist considered the situation of the Visit Azores association (organization responsible for tourism promotion), led by Nuno Leandro to be “concerned”.

“The chairman of the Board of Directors, Nuno Leandro, hardly performs any duties. The [Regional] Government, in the midst of its passivity, washes its hands. This situation highlights the government’s omission and its inability to guarantee effective leadership in a strategic organization for regional tourism”, he insisted.

For Marlene Damião, the “Tourist Promotion of the Azores cannot be held hostage by inaction, nor can entrepreneurs continue to pay the price of lack of leadership”.

She recalled the PS proposal adopted in the Azorean parliament for the creation of an Air Route Development Fund, whose implementation is awaiting the approval of the European Commission, according to the Regional Government.

“ The European Commission's decision-making time does not prevent the government from preparing regulation and defining funding. The government cannot use administrative procedures as an excuse for inaction. The Azores don't need any more ads on planes. They need planes to fly,” he reinforced.

Marlene Damião warned that the “expense carried out with tourism promotion fell to less than half between 2022 and 2025” and criticized the lack of strategy for the sector.

“ We need to know what tourism strategy we want for the Azores and how we are promoting our islands in the markets that interest us, and here too the Government strives for the absence, inactivity, passivity”, he said.

For the eleventh month in a row, the Azores recorded a decline in the number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation in August, with a fall of 2.6% from the same period.

The Azorean parliament consists of 57 deputies – 23 from the PSD, 23 from the PS, five from the Cávez, two from the CDS-PP, one from the IL, one from the BE, one from the PAN and one from the PPM.