The Vice President of the Government of the Canary Islands and Minister of Economy, Industry, Commerce and Self-Employed, Manuel Domínguez, presented this week a diagnosis and action plan to promote Vocational Training in the commerce sector in the Canary Islands.
This report, commissioned by the General Directorate of Commerce, aims to identify and solve one of the biggest problems currently facing the commercial fabric of the islands: generational change.
Manuel Domínguez explained that the commercial environment in the Canary Islands “is evolving rapidly due to digitalization and new consumption habits. Therefore – he continued - it is necessary to adapt Vocational Training to a changing market, and Dual VT is the perfect tool that acts as a direct bridge between education and employment.”
This report seeks to “strengthen” the role of VT as a “driver of transformation of Canarian commerce. This is a huge opportunity to redesign commerce from education, enhance the sector's prestige and reduce, at the same time, the youth unemployment rate,” he said.
The Deputy Minister of Vocational Training and Professional Qualifications, Francisco Rodríguez Machado, stressed that, in the Canary Islands, “where tourism is the main economic engine and generates a constant flow of visitors throughout the year, commerce has consolidated as a strategic and job-creating sector.”
In this context, he recalled that “more than 3,500 students are currently studying in the professional family of Commerce and Marketing in the different islands of the Archipelago, with an offer that includes intermediate and higher-level cycles.” In his opinion, this training “is key not only to respond to labor demand, but also to promote the modernization and competitiveness of the sector, especially through formulas such as Dual VT that allow a direct connection with the business fabric.”
The General Director of Commerce, David Mille, presented the diagnosis from which several conclusions are drawn, such as the need for more incentives for the commercial fabric to participate in Dual Vocational Training and more training in languages, digitalization and soft skills. The area of Commerce and Marketing only attracts 6.5% of students enrolled in VT. “Our goal is to enthuse 1,600 more students and 535 companies to raise that percentage to 10% in 2028,” said Manuel Domínguez.
In the 2025/2026 academic year, the number of groups in the commerce family has already been increased to 189 and the number of students enrolled to more than 3,500, 1.03% more than the previous year. These studies, not offered in the 2024/2025 academic year, are the following: Auxiliary Warehouse Activities, higher-level training cycle in International Commerce and higher-level specialization course in Digital content writing for marketing and social sales. Likewise, in the 2025/2026 academic year, the network of public centers offering Vocational Training studies in this family has been expanded from 42 to 50 centers.