Talent retention, which is talked about so much these days, is a problem closely linked to the size of the territory, which, in economics, is called the market. Azoreans have shown that they are good in many areas, but to give wings to their dreams, they invariably fly to other places because the land that saw them born doesn’t have enough market size for their genius to expand. And there’s no harm in that. Geography is, despite a few exceptions, a limitation. We don’t know of any surveys, but there are many top Azoreans around the world, in companies, in politics, in academia, in the arts, in the most varied institutions where competence is recognized and where there is more than enough competitiveness. A territory of two hundred thousand souls, spread over nine pieces surrounded by a lot of sea, even if it is ingenious, can hardly accommodate a market the size of the sea surrounding it. That’s why few can resist being tied to their islands. And this state of the art is spreading to all sectors. Yesterday, we reported on the good results of young Azoreans at a Santa Maria national championship. The gold medal winner in the Pastry category, who is already working in the profession, confessed to DI (Diário Insular newspaper) that he has a dream of going abroad, but that in order to achieve this, he has to “go in shoes”; in other words, he has to find a stocking to face the challenges that lie ahead for the goals he has set himself in what he calls “fine pastry.” You might wonder if a young man from Angra with these skills wouldn’t have the right to make his dream come true here. Of course, he would, but who would be willing to pay him a corresponding salary? Or the challenge of launching his own business would perhaps be another idea. But how many sweets would we need to sell to sustain the value chain? Would we have enough market and people available to pay the required and perhaps deserved amount? So, do we have to watch helplessly as these talents leave without us being able to do anything about it? We think something can be done, starting with the tourism sector, a low-income industry for those working there. We know that the justifications are always based on seasonality, which still lowers the average for this sector. So there’s only one way: turn the Azores into a destination of excellence with ten-star service levels and make tourists pay for it. This means abandoning the goal of quantity, mass tourism, and betting on extreme quality. Maybe then we can spend all the professionals in the sector more and better. What’s more, we would avoid (by anticipation) what is happening in many tourist destinations, which is the reaction to the massification of tourism that only squanders, adds no wealth except for a few, and is a risky bet – the risk of a temporary fashion… that quickly goes away.

From the editorial board of Diário Insular, Terceiral Island, Azores.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers from the Azores to give the diaspora and those interested in the current Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL)