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SANTA CRUZ TO LAUNCH NEW TOURISM VISION
Quality or quantity: what will the Canaries choose? DEBATE OPENS ABOUT CAPPING VISITOR NUMBERS
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UGGESTIONS that the Canaries should “limit” the number of tourists coming to the islands has opened up a new debate about quantity versus quality. The comments made by president of the archipelago, Fernando Clavijo made news both here and abroad although the leader felt many of the stories were taken out of context. In 2014, around 13 million people visited the Canary Islands which have a total population of just two million. Headlines in national papers included “The Magaluf effect: Canary Islands could impose limits on tourism as increase in visitor numbers is killing quality in Spain” and “Canary Islands to put cap on tourists”. One even declared: “Tourists turn us into Lanzagrotty!” Sr. Clavijo actually told leading Spanish daily El Pais that having 20 million tourists would “serve nothing” if they came on an all-inclusive basis because what mattered was what they spent to produce a spin-off for the rest of the economy. At the moment, there is no concrete proposal to put a limit on the number of visitors but tourism chiefs are looking at the way ahead to gain quantity rather than quality and this could be one of the options. The Canary president said each island had its own way of protecting its environment and the government would be talking to all of them before defining an overall stragegy and any possible limits. Before the end of the year, a major forum will be called to
meet employers, unions and commerce to discuss how the Canaries can remain a leader. The islands have seen a steady growth in holidaymakers in recent years as they recover from the economic crisis but Sr. Clavijo believes “stagnation can lead to complacency”. “The Canaries are a world power in tourism,” he said. “So is Spain but the Canaries receive 20 per cent of all the country’s visitors.” However, he has stressed there are other holiday islands competing with the Canaries with lower labour and operating costs “so the islands should consider what model they want” and whether to favour the tourist “based more on excellence”. “In these times of economic growth and a changing pattern, the tourist debate must open,” he stressed. “You have to open it if we want to remain leaders.” As far as Tenerife is concerned, president Carlos Alonso said the Cabildo was pretty clear on its stance in that it supported tourism growth linked to quality. This included new five star hotels or refurbishments of three and four-star complexes. What mattered, he said, was not just that the tourist came to Tenerife but that they spent money when they got here which would lead to job creation. “Tenerife has a clear and consistent model,” he said.
What do you think? Should the number of visitors to the Canary Islands be capped? Do you favour quantity over quality or the other way round? Do let us know by emailing your comment to info@tenerifenews.org.es
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ANTA Cruz is preparing to launch a major new campaign to raise its tourism appeal throughout the islands, nationally and internationally.
The Mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez says he is ver y pleased that efforts made over the last few years have proved a success but he wants the capital to make more of an impact. Talks are already taking place with interested parties, including hoteliers, to discuss a strategy for the future and to make Santa Cruz THE place to visit on Tenerife. The campaign will revolve around four major attractions and administrative procedures are to be streamlined in order to attract more investments and generate new projects. The first theme will be maritime, concentrating on the coast, the cruise liners
which visit the city, promotion of water sports and improvements to the beaches. The second revolves around gastonomy, leisure, shopping and culture and the annual Carnival which attracts hundreds of thousands of people. The third part of the spotlight will fall on the development of outdoor activities, in
the parks, gardens, terraces, plazas and pedestrian areas, together with Anaga and will convey the message that Santa Cruz has something going on in the streets throughout the year. The last axis is “the value of the quality of life” which will look at improvements to traffic, accessibility and cleanliness. Ashotel president, Jorge Marichal said the hotel group gave its full support to the transformation of Santa Cruz
and stressed the need to “have clear ideas, defined projects and investments needed to promote tourism and the accommodation aspect of the city.” Chief executive officer of the city’s Development Society, Alfonso Cabello said it was now important to see words turned into actions and it was hoped to launch the campaign by the end of 2015.