The president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, José Valle, spoke on Friday at the Global South Forum to talk about the economic and social challenges that will mark the course of the island in the next decade. During his speech, he highlighted the need to achieve a balanced, sustainable development focused on the well-being of citizens.
Valle defended a vision of Lanzarote “more just, with adequate infrastructure, efficient services and where the term happiness is the common denominator of those who live here.” He also spoke of the need to have competitive infrastructure and services that improve the daily life of the resident.
In terms of tourism, he pointed out the advance towards a less massive and more profitable model, betting on sectors such as gastronomy, culture and the primary sector. “It is the island that grows the least in number of tourists but the one that grows the most in spending at the destination,” he explained, “we must change the focus and focus on billing, not volume.”
When asked about whether or not we should decrease, the leader of the businessmen was clear, “we grow when we improve the quality of the product. You can grow economically by decreasing the number of tourists. We have to talk about this with total naturalness and without taboos,” he said.
Regarding the Ecotax, Valle defends useful measures that directly revert to society, leaving behind ideological positions. “It is not about whether ecotax yes or no, but about applying fiscal measures that really improve the life of the resident and preserve the territory,” he said. And he alluded to the precedent of the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers as an example of efficient management with social impact.
Knowledge ecosystem
Finally, he spoke about young talent and the opportunity that the return represents. “Our young people will be able to leave, train and return if we generate here the conditions for them to want to return.” In this sense, he predicted the possibility that Lanzarote will become a knowledge ecosystem that takes advantage of the digital revolution and offers quality of life without the need to emigrate.
