The population density of the Azores is conditioned by the geography and orography of the archipelago, which in turn determine the climate exposure and distribution of population clusters, limiting the areas suitable for habitation in relation to the total area of each island. For this reason, some indicators of tourism sustainability, such as density, must be adapted according to knowledge of habitable and visitable areas, main traffic routes and accessibility to recreational or leisure areas, namely bathing areas, biosphere reserves or places of high cultural and natural heritage interest. Without this delimitation, it makes more sense to analyse tourism intensity as the main indicator of social and environmental sustainability, seeking to understand the carrying capacity of each municipality and the limits of visitation beyond which a negative perception of the quality of life of the local population is generated.
Tourism intensity must be carefully analysed in two areas: environmental and social. In the first, it is essential to calculate and integrate the carbon footprint generated by a visit with an average stay of three nights, namely air transport, individual car transport, food supply chain and transport, water supply and increased waste generation and disposal. Currently, only Denmark and New Zealand have official information on emissions generated by tourist visits.
According to a global study conducted by researcher Ya-Yen Sun, published in Nature Publishing Group UK, in just six years (2013-2019), global emissions from tourism increased to 8.8%, despite numerous calls, declarations and initiatives for decarbonisation. There are no signs of a slowdown; on the contrary, tourism emissions continue to rise rapidly, at a rate of 3.5% per year. The author concludes that the existence of a national database on tourism emissions will shift current policies from a model that advocates continuous growth, emphasising Gross Domestic Product and job creation, to a sustainable approach.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0141-x
This advocacy of continuous growth must also be analysed from a social perspective, in terms of the distribution of extracted wealth, remuneration and diversification of jobs created, and above all the socio-cultural impoverishment of an economy based on overnight stays, transport and food. One of the most precious legacies of the Azorean population – its character and tenacity – is rapidly softening as excessive air transport obscures the island’s insularity and volcanoes become mere extras on fertile ground overrun by weeds or cement. Knowing today that the distribution of wealth in the hotel and restaurant industry is low means that tourist money goes to a few, but the footprint is for everyone.
If the high flow of passage is continuous and not seasonal, unlike the limited and opportune time when the bear stands in the river waiting for the salmon to jump into its mouth, the Azorean tenacity that emerged from the need to survive adverse weather conditions and agricultural production on difficult soils will quickly be lost – and it is not enough to name another superfluous airport after Luís de Camões to recover ingenuity and artistry.
According to the number of overnight stays in hotels and similar establishments per 100 inhabitants (INE) in Portugal between 2004 and 2011, tourism intensity remained relatively stable, with levels compatible with sustainable tourism. Until then, only the regions of Madeira and Algarve had levels of tourist intensity significantly above the national average, namely above 1.5, which, according to the methodology proposed by the European Commission in the document ‘Environment and Tourism in the Context of Sustainable Development’, reflects unsustainable tourism (source: INE).
However, when analysing social sustainability indicators, namely tourist intensity on the island of Pico over the last eight years, we observe that, during the summer months, it not only equals but also greatly exceeds that of several Portuguese cities that are highly sought after worldwide, where the importance of an economic development model not based on overtourism is now being debated.
It is important to present and highlight the following data:
– The number of overnight stays in tourist accommodation on the island of Pico increased by 335% between 2013 and 2023.
– In August 2024 alone, 50,397 overnight stays were officially recorded (excluding second homes, non-habitual residents and rural tourism), which corresponds to an intensity of 1.58, if we consider that each overnight stay usually generates a trip around the island. If we also consider rural tourism accommodation to be at least identical to that of the last recorded year (3,778 overnight stays in August 2021), the same intensity easily rises to 1.67 (thousands of overnight stays per 100 inhabitants).
Assuming that almost everyone who stays overnight on the island of Pico travels around the island, the intensity of tourism in the municipality of São Roque do Pico in August 2024 far exceeded that of cities or models in the country with overtourism problems (almost 6 times higher than Lisbon, 12 times higher than Faro and only 1.6 times lower than the municipality of Albufeira, a national paradigm).
Even extending the denominator to the three municipalities on the island, it still compares negatively with single municipalities with much higher population densities such as Ponta Delgada, Funchal, Faro, Lisbon, and also with the entire island of São Miguel.
| 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2023 | 2024 | ||
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | ||
| Ilha do Pico | Traditional Hospitality | 42 892 | 46 694 | 58 227 | 66 057 | 24 201 | 77 589 | 68 499 |
| Rural Tourism | 5 099 | 10 102 | 11 704 | 14 235 | 3 808 | – | – | |
| Local Accommodation | – | 21 420 | 40 026 | 82 028 | 28 967 | 129 542 | 133 376 | |
| Holiday Camps/Youth Hostels | 4 845 | 4 691 | 6 158 | 4 943 | 793 | 5 643 | 4 347 | |
| Campsites | 4 067 | 1 677 | 3 398 | 3 997 | – | 2 994 | 2 889 | |
| Guest Houses | 4 576 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Private Accommodation | 2 876 | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Total | 64 355 | 84 584 | 119 513 | 171 260 | 57 769 | 215 768 | 209 111 | |
| August 2024 | Anual – 2023 | |||
| Overnight stays | Resident population | Intensity1 | Overnight stays | |
| São Roque do Pico | Estimated (16962-20159) | 3220 | 0,53 -0,63(Vs up to 1,58)2 | Estimated (64730-86307) |
| Ilha do Pico | 50 397 | 13 879 | 0,36 | 215 768 |
| Ilha de São Miguel | 412 333 | 133 288 | 0,31(Vs up to 0,612) | 2 568 430 |
| Ponta Delgada | 67 229 | 0,31-0,61 | na | |
| Funchal | 624 620 | 105 782 | 0,59 | 6 130 179 |
| Lisboa | 1 575 537 | 545 796 | 0,29 | 15 158 632 |
| Faro | 93 260 | 67 622 | 0,14 | 673 861 |
| Albufeira | 1 202 219 | 44 164 | 2,72 | 7 772 029 |
Fonte: (INE; srea.azores.gov.pt)
It is important for residents to know that the exponential growth in tourism in an area of low population density and outstanding natural beauty such as the island of Pico reflects the absence of any Resource Management Plan and safeguards for sustainability for those who visit and those who are visited.
It is also important to discuss the best way to regulate visitor flows and ensure an authentic experience for visitors, without trampling on the local community, saturating the island’s accessibility, and causing a perceived decline in quality of life throughout the year and especially during the summer months.
Investment in air transport, hotel promotion and real estate development, placing the number of beds available on the islands as the main immediate source of wealth, may be good for short-term economic development, but historically it has led to a decline in the quality of life and socio-economic differentiation of the population. Take the recent examples of Lisbon and Porto, where neighbourhoods have undergone gentrification and loss of character in record time, riding on the back of the difficulty of rebuilding and repairing properties in city centres due to an outdated rental law, which prevented and continues to prevent the normal functioning of the conventional rental market and to divert housing resources excessively to tourist accommodation.
The Azores still have time to regulate their accessibility, the model of circulation in public spaces of common interest, whether they are bathing areas, reserves or natural heritage sites, and thus respect their carrying capacity, while avoiding the definitive surrender of the best locations on the island to property developers targeting high-end buyers, as happened, for example, on the island of Madeira, leading to the restriction or loss of access for residents, as well as damaging their quality of life, social cohesion, island identity and sense of belonging.
1 thousand overnight stays/100 inhabitants (Source: SREA)
2 each night generates one tour of the island