Ecotourism and its role in The Azores’ Tourism Regime
Ecotourism is increasingly becoming a category of choice by many travellers around the world, reaching $181.1bn by 2019. The growth of this sector is one of the fastest in the industry which, according to Allied Market Research is projected to garner $333.8 billion by 2027, a CAGR of 14.3% from 2021 to 2027.
The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people’s, and involves interpretation and education”. Sustainable travel aims to reduce negative impacts on the environment and community through responsible tourism, in particular respecting local customs and cultures, as well as protecting biodiversity and animals in their natural habitats. This is why ecotourism is considered to have a significant and long-term positive impact by aligning the goals of multiple stakeholders including: locals looking to generate income from tourism, tourists who wish to enjoy a break in a beautiful environment with good facilities, local and national governments who want to develop an area through foreign investment and others pushing to preserve the natural biodiversity and cultures which are usually threatened by conventional tourism.
New destinations are sprouting up around the globe as potential ecotourism hotspots. These areas were previously overlooked by conventional tourists who preferred ease-of-access and typical tourism facilities. Oftentimes, these areas are considered underdeveloped and local governments may be interested in growth through tourism ventures and the foreign investment that comes with tourism. By focussing on ecotourism, these governments can help provide long-term sustainable growth and reduce the negative externalities.
The Azores
At Pico Analytics we have been investigating ecotourism and the potential for growth of sustainable tourism in the Azores, Portugal.
The Autonomous Region of the Azores is a Portuguese archipelago that constitutes of nine volcanic islands. It is located in the North Atlantic Ocean in Macaronesia, 870 miles from Lisbon in Continental Portugal and about 1,200 miles from Canada. This specific location allows to mild changes in weather all year round, where temperatures range from 14 degrees in the winter months and 22 degrees in the summer months.
The Azores were virtually unknown until the late 90’s but due to the rise in awareness towards sustainability and responsible travel, tourists have been actively looking for “hidden gems”, destinations that are not flooded by visitors. In recent years, tourism in the Azores has become increasingly important for the local economy. From 2015 to 2018 the number of guests visiting the islands increased by 66% to 840,000 per annum.
Nearly 25% of the territory is classified as a protected area certifying secure biodiversity, natural beauty and untouched fauna and flora. Additionally, the locals have provided more-and-more different activities such as, scuba diving, trekking and canoeing which are now prevalent across the islands.
In 2020 the Azores were awarded the title of Europe’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination by World Travel Awards and, in consideration of COVID-19, the Azores were awarded one of the Safest Destinations to visit in 2021. Additionally, the Azores are certified by EarthCheck, an entity accredited by the GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council) that analyses and advises travel and helps deliver clean, safe, and healthy destinations.
Sustainability in the Azores
Sustainability is of major importance when it comes to the rise in tourism in the Islands and the government have put in place measures to guarantee that they increasingly improve tourism’s impact on the natural environment.
In 2018 the Azorean government created an association named DMO to put in place initiatives responsible for ensuring constant improvement in sustainable development. In order to increase the response, the government considered the advice of EarthCheck. These initiatives focused on the adoption of strategic measures that aim to improve quality of life, promotion of cultural elements and preservation of ecological environments. Hence, generating positive impact to the community and its territory and also to determine that tourism is contributing positively to the Azorean economy. Examples of these are: substitution of the public illumination near the coast line by more sustainable solutions, encouraging the use of electric vehicles and increasing the amount of charging places and the implementation of campaigns to promote water quality for both residents and tourists.
The unique characteristics of the archipelago have guaranteed preservation and protection of its multiplicity of natural, historic, and cultural recourses. Moreover, the government developed sustainability policies in terms of the management of energy, noise, air, and water quality and has implemented promotion workshops for environmental education, valorisation of culture and patrimony.
Additionally, marine diversity and coastal importance have been important in the rise of tourism. In 2013, The Azores won the QualityCoast Gold Award for their good sustainable practices. The standout criteria for this win were: scenic beauty, environmental quality and “sustainable tourism in places that kept their local identity and natural heritage”.
Following this productive growth movement in the last few years, we at Pico Analytics have analysed the public data published by the Azorean Regional Statistics Service (SREA) and other data sources to compare the progress against the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS).
What is the ETIS and how we can use the ETIS toolkit as a base to improve measurement of ecotourism goals in the Azores
Destinations around Europe use the ETIS as a starting point in order to contribute to the sustainable development of destinations. It was launched by the European Commission in 2013 to help destinations provide a base to monitor and measure their sustainable tourism performance and is designed to be tailored to each individual destination individually. The system provides a list of indicators which focus on the following topics:
1. Destination management;
2. Social and cultural impact;
3. Economic value;
4. Environmental impact.
The ETIS focuses on the impact on local economy, environment and how the local community reacts to tourism. By utilising the set of indicators from the ETIS toolkit to facilitate measurements in a general context and information specific to sustainable practices, we are able to help provide a base that can be benchmarked against for future periods.
The data published to date centres on the sub-topic of economic value but there is a lack of published data published at this stage on the other indicators. For instance, statistics released provide detailed information for 2019 on tourism flow, customer and community satisfaction in regard to tourism and percentages employment creations due to the rise in tourists.
For example, we observe that the relative contribution of tourism to the destination’s economy in 2019 was 10% and the average spend per overnight tourist was €40. Even with growth in recent years, this is still significantly lower than in other prime tourist destinations in Portugal such as the Algarve, and even lower than Portugal as a whole with tourism equating to 15.6% of the country’s GDP and c. 20% of employment. It is also noted that the average length of stay is by 3 nights, less than the Algarve which averages c. 3.9 nights per guest. It is feasible to suggest at this stage that there is significant room for growth, with performance from an economic perspective underperforming the rest of the nation.
As noted above, when researching the environmental impact of tourism, which is critical to the performance of The Azores from an ecotourism perspective, there is limited information published at this stage. We would note, however, that the local government have clearly laid out their future plans and how they are going to be implemented, which hopefully will be followed by the publishing of further data as this plan is progressed. In particular, it would be valuable to see statistics on topics such as the management of energy and waste, how the government or individuals are positively contributing to climate change and to the impact due to transport programs. Additionally, it would be beneficial to determine the percentage of local enterprises that actively support protection, conservation and management of local biodiversity and landscapes in relation to tourism.
Overall, it is pleasing to see the recent growth (pre-COVID) in tourism to the Azores. Clearly, from the perspective of changing international tourism flows to support ecotourism, The Azores has the natural biodiversity and adventure infrastructure to help propel this archipelago to the forefront of sustainable travel. We at Pico Analytics will be continuing to monitor the data published over time, in particular with respect to the environmental factors as and when they are published.
