Tourism Development Potential in an Insular Territory: The Case of Ribeira Grande in the Azores The Autonomous Region of the Azores is one of the most sustainable destinations in the world. Being an archipelago comprised of nine small islands, quality and sustainability are critical features in the tourism sector, inducing the need for thorough and technical strategic development processes. Ribeira Grande is an important municipality in the Azores, which envisioned tourism as a strategic sector to develop when the partial liberalization of the air passenger transport sector occurred in 2015. However, this destination had little tourism maturity and competitiveness and required some structural planning work. The development of a strategic plan for tourism for the municipality of Ribeira Grande, including the selection of tourism products, is explained in detail in this article, which highlights the main challenges and results of the process.

Throughout history, times of crisis have always been preceded by periods of change. In fact, the current moment of health, economic, and social crisis that we are experiencing seems to be no exception. Tourism seems to be one of the most affected activities by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis—due not only the cancelled flights but also to the fear of being infected with the virus. In this sense, the present article intends to identify the Azores Archipelago residents’ tourism expectations during the COVID-19 crisis. Using the Azores Islands as a case study and merging it with the authors’ knowledge about this regional reality, it was possible to collect a substantial quantity of data. Thus, this study provides an in-depth perception of the main issues about how this pandemic crisis affects the tourism expectations of the Azores region residents, and consequently, how this situation will influence regional sustainable development. Through the study, it was possible to verify that the significant part of the Azores Archipelago residents (57.5%) will not be going to travel to spend vacations in 2020. Additionally, 84.2% will have holidays in the region; therefore, they stay in the Azores Archipelago. Besides, this study shows that majority of the respondents (61.6%) would not make a reservation for a 2020 vacation.

There is a close relationship between sustainable tourism, cultural management, and the achievement of the desired sustainable development and growth. These issues seem to be particularly relevant in rural and ultra-peripheral areas, as in the case of the insular territories. Therefore studies that cross these fields using interdisciplinary analysis are pivotal to allow us to understand the patterns, dynamics, and variables that should be considered in the design of a sustainable territorial planning and manage-ment strategy. Contextually, the present study has been conducted based on the analysis of the existent thematic literature along with cross-referencing of collected and selected data for the Azores archipel-ago. In this regard, the present study enables involved actors, decision-makers, and policy-makers to better understand how sustainable tourism and cultural management principles should be addressed in the pursuit of long-term territorial sustainability.

The Satisfaction of the Nordic Tourist with the Azores as a Destination Tourism is considered a strategic economic sector for the outermost regions of Europe. In the Azores, Tourism is a dynamic and growing activity. New segments have emerged, such as ecological and sustainable tourism, nautical tourism and wildlife tourism. Currently, new niches are being developed around sports (surf, paragliding and diving are recent examples), religion, nature, healthcare and wellbeing. The latest products and services serve as alternatives or complements to the more traditional venues of hotels and restaurants. The latter have managed to continuously upgrade their standing in global markets via large investments in modernization, innovation and employee training. Progressively, the Azores are becoming a desirable destination to inhabitants of modern and stressful urban areas of Europe and North-America. Specifically, Northern European markets are considered strategic for the region. The typical Nordic Tourist seeks products and services easily found in the Azorean touristic market. Also, visitor inflows from Northern Europe can mitigate the effects of seasonality, a phenomenon still very visible in the region's sector. Because tourism is a very competitive business worldwide, it is crucial to employ policies that enhance competitiveness. It is reasonable to argue that these policies should be guided by accurate knowledge of the strong and weak characteristics of the Azores, as a destination competing in a global market. Under this context, this paper seeks to comprehend how the typical Nordic visitor feels pleased with his stay in the Azores. Using a large database of responses from tourists, we employ econometric methods to assess the degree of satisfaction of the average Nordic visitor with the Azores as a destination.

The Azores is one of the most sustainable nature-based island destinations in the world. Local tourism activities companies are vital to tourists' adventure experiences. These businesses' portfolios were analysed using various editions of the official Tourism Activities Guide. The analysis focused on companies' products, types of activities, geographical coverage and brands. The generalised profile generated indicates that these firms each operate on only one island, have a small portfolio and are prone to specialise in sea or land activities. Snorkelling and motor boat rides are the most common sea activities, while nature hikes and walks, van tours and cultural tours are the most widely offered land activities. Explicit or indirect references to the Azores and adventure often appear in companies' brands, which is in line with international trends in adventure tourism. However, company profiles are changing due to the impacts of a new air transport model.