European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation Xqn0 5. Urgekcn Kuuwg / KVE)33. rr0 3:;/435. 4234 © 2012 Polytechnic Institute of Leiria. All rights reserved Printed in Portugal www.ejthr.com Research EJTHR Tourism 189 TOURISTIC GROUPS IN AZORES: THE FINNISH CASE Luís Silveira University of Coimbra – CEGOT, Portugal ABSTRACT: In the last decade, the opening and the bigger exposure of Azores Autonom- ic Region in the media, as well the assumption of the importance of tourism to the regional economy by the local government, introduced the planning of this sector in those islands. Gxgp kh cnn tgikqpu jcxg urgekÞe hgcvwtgu cu vjg ockp vqwtkuvke Rqtvwiwgug tgikqpu uwej cu Cn- garve, Madeira and Lisboa, the Azores product – Natural landscape – is different from the all the rest. Kvu fkhhgtgpeg cpf urgekÞecvkqp ku fktgevgf vq octmgv pkejgu. yjkej ogcpu pqv vq attract the consumer populations of the most searched touristic product – Sun and beach. Due the fragility and weak capacity of the Azorean touristic product renovation, but still with the necessity of economical income, it’s essential the non-allowance of tourist masses but at- tract a highly economic value and academic instructed tourist type. The Scandinavian popu- lation has been one of the bets for a sustainable tourism in Azores, and Finland one of the urgekÞe ecugu ykvj yggmn{ fktgev àkijvu nkpmkpi vjku eqwpvt{ ykvj vjg ctejkrgnciq0 Vjgtg ctg some questions: Is this a correct bet? What can Azores offer? What are Finnish searching in their vacations periods? To answer those questions a bibliographic search and an inquiry were ocfg. yjgtg vq fgvgtokpcvg vjg Hkppkuj vqwtkuv rtqÞng cpf vjg rquukdng ucvkuhcevkqp ykvj vjg Azores offer it´s pretended. Keywords: Azores; Islands; Tourism; Economical development; Finnish population. RESUMEN: Gp ncu ¿nvkocu ffiecfcu. nc itcp gzrqukek„p fg nc Tgik„p Cwv„pqoc fg C¦qtgu c nqu ogfkqu fg eqowpkecek„p uqekcn. cu‡ eqoq nc cuwpek„p fg nc korqtvcpekc fgn vwtkuoq rctc la economía regional, puso en el orden del día el planteamiento de esa actividad en aquellas kuncu0 Cwpswg vqfcu ncu tgikqpgu vwt‡uvkecu rqtvwiwgucu vgpicp uwu gurgekÞekfcfgu. eqoq gu gn caso del Algarve, Madeira y Lisboa, el producto turístico de Azores – el paisaje natural – hace swg guvc tgik„p ugc ow{ fkhgtgpvg fg vqfcu ncu fgoƒu0 Uw fkhgtgpekc { uwu gurgekÞekfcfgu cvtc- gp c pkejqu fg ogtecfq. fkuvkpvqu fg nqu eqpuwokfqtgu swg dwuecp gn rtqfwevq vwt‡uvkeq oƒu rqrwnct Ï uqn { rnc{c0 Fgdkfq c nc htciknkfcf { c nc ffidkn ecrcekfcf fg tgpqxcek„p fgn rtqfwe- vq vwt‡uvkeq fg C¦qtgu. { vcodkfip c nc pgegukfcf fg kpitguqu. ug xwgnxg gugpekcn gxkvct gn vwtku- oq fg ocucu. cvtc{gpfq c vwtkuvcu eqp oc{qt rqfgt fg eqortc { pkxgngu fg kpuvtweek„p oƒu elevados. Nc rqdncek„p fg Guecpfkpcxkc jc ukfq wpc fg ncu crwguvcu rctc wp vwtkuoq uquvgpk- dng gp C¦qtgu. ukgpfq Hkpncpfkc wpq fg guqu ecuqu gurge‡Þequ. eqp xwgnqu fktgevqu ugocpcngu rctc gn ctejkrkfinciq0 Fg csw‡ vtcuewttgp xctkcu ewguvkqpgu< ½guvc ugtƒ nc crwguvc eqttgevcA ½Swfi rwgfg qhtgegt C¦qtguA ½Swfi dwuecp nqu Þpncpfgugu gp uwu xcecekqpguA Rctc eqpvguvct c guvcu rtgiwpvcu ug rtqegfk„ c wpc tgxkuk„p fg nc nkvgtcvwtc { c wpc gpewguvc swg xkuc vtc¦ct gn rgtÞn fgn vwtkuvc Þpncpffiu { nc gxgpvwcn ucvkuhceek„p eqp nq swg C¦qtgu vkgpg rctc qhtgegt0 Palabras clave: C¦qtgu= Kuncu= Vwtkuoq= Fgucttqnnq Geqp„okeq= Hkpncpfgugu. RESUMO: Pcu ¿nvkocu ffiecfcu. c itcpfg gzrquk›«q fc Tgik«q Cwv„pqoc fqu C›qtgu cqu ogkqu fg eqowpkec›«q uqekcn. dgo eqoq c cuuwp›«q fc korqtv¤pekc fq vwtkuoq rctc c geq- nomia regional, colocou na ordem do dia o planeamento desta atividade naquelas ilhas. Em- 1 Luís Eduardo Ávila da Silveira was born in the Azores, went to Coimbra to do his de- gree in Geography (2004) and completed in 2009 at the same university, the master’s degree in Human Geography - Planning and Development. He is currently doing a PhD in Tour- ism, Leisure and Culture, specializing in Tourism and Development. Author’s e-mail: avila- dasilveira@gmail.com