Tourism activities and companies in a sustainable adventure tourism destination: the Azores

Abstract

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.

The Azores Archipelago as a Region with Vast Potential for the Development of Adventure and Slow Tourism

“…Similar to other studies [7,9,10,13], the Azores tourism strategy embraces nature as an essential resource for its development. In this sense, culture is also a priceless asset [7,21].…”

“…Newly, based on its remoteness and breathtaking nature, it has been frequently classified with adventure tourism by worldwide references like Bloomberg, Departures, BBC, Forbes, GeekyExplorer, Lonely Planet, are just a few examples. Also, its natural and cultural heritage and its generalized rural environment make it the perfect place for slow adventures [7,[9][10][11].…”

The Impacts of COVID-19 Crisis over the Tourism Expectations of the Azores Archipelago Residents

“…Even if the negative impacts of this crisis are inevitable, at the same time, it opens a window of opportunity to invest new models of tourism activities in the Archipelago-i.e., agritourism; adventure tourism; sport tourism; ecotourism; gastronomy tourism; cultural tourism; or nature-based tourism, are just some examples. As previous authors affirm [28,30,31,38], there is considerable potential for the growth and development of rural and slow tourism in the Azores Archipelago. Additionally, this typology of tourism is seen by many authors (see: [39][40][41][42][43][44][45] Additionally, tourism in the Azores is a strategic sector for the regional economy and growth.…”

“…Newly, due to its remoteness and astounding nature, it has been frequently distinguished by adventure tourism by international references like Bloomberg, Departures, BBC, Forbes, Geek Explorer, and Lonely Planet, among several others. Besides, the Azores natural and cultural heritage, along with the generalized rural environment, presents the Archipelago as the perfect place for slow adventures [28]. Using the Azores region 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.…”

Green Gardens Azores Project: A brief characterization of the vascular flora in the Azores’ historical gardens

“…If we want to understand the economic impact of garden tourism, we can take as an example the fact that in 2014, 20 million paid entries were registered in the National Trust's British Gardens (National Trust 2014). Until now tourism at the Azores has been grounded on 'Nature Tourism' and 'Adventure Tourism' (Fraga 2014; Governo dos Açores 2016; Guerreiro 2017; Ponte et al 2018). Nevertheless, there are evident advantages in developing the segment of garden tourism at the Azores, not only because garden tourism is suitable for a greater number of people than adventure or nature tourism, but also because these segments of tourism represent complementary niche markets that are not associated with mass tourism.…”