The Regional Secretariat for Energy, Environment and Tourism, through the Regional Directorate for the Environment, will carry out various environmental awareness and education activities on all the islands, as part of the celebrations of World Wetlands Day, to be celebrated on February 2 and this year is dedicated to the theme “Biodiversity and Wetlands”.
The Regional Secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism announced today that the Azores has been certified as a sustainable tourism destination through the EarthCheck certifier and under the strict criteria of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC).
The Regional Secretary for Energy, Environment and Tourism pointed out today the importance of the Annual Congress of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, which will take place at Angra do Heroísmo Cultural and Congress Center, on Terceira Island, from 4-7 December. Marta Guerreiro called for the participation of the sector’s agents, pointing out that “this is a very important moment for tourism in the Azores because it is one of the biggest international events on sustainable development”. “We want it to be a moment of sharing, debate and reflection, not only on this issue at international level, but especially at regional level, taking into account the ongoing process of certification of the Azores as a Sustainable Tourist Destination”, she stated. According to the Secretary “about 150 participants are expected” at a congress that she considered to be a “unique opportunity to project the Azores into the international sustainability scene, reinforcing the internal recognition of the potential that the Region can have as a sustainable tourist destination”. Under the theme ‘Navigating the Way Forward in Sustainable Tourism’, the congress will focus on areas such as ‘Smart & Sustainable Destination Management’, ‘Market Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Products’ and ‘Is Tourism Responding to Climate Change?’. “We believe this will probably be one of the best GSTC congresses, bringing together a number of speakers from around the world who stand out for their relevance to their positions,” said Marta Guerreiro, pointing as an example EarthCheck CEO, Stewart Moore, Innovation Norway consultant, Ingunn Sornes, and TUI Sustainability Office Director, Jane Ashton. The program of the event can be consulted athttps://www.gstcouncil.org/gstc2019/program/ Registrations for Azores’ residents can be made through the email addresshttps://www.gstcouncil.org/gstc2019/azorean-registration/. Holders of the Miosótis award, as well as holders of GSTC-accredited and/or recognized certification schemes, have access to an additional discount. Marta Guerreiro was talking, in the context of the visit to Terceira Island, on the sidelines of the visit to the tourist resort ‘Casa das Cinco’. “This is another excellent example of qualifying our offer,” said the Regional Secretary, adding that ‘Casa das Cinco’ was a former Fiscal Guard House that was transformed into a ‘picturesque tourist house’ with a ‘great location’, close to the sea and Angra do Heroísmo, a World Heritage city”.