Lanzarote's tourist offer is on display from this Wednesday in Berlin. There, in the immense Messe fairground, the ITB is being held. This general tourism fair, the most important in Europe, opened its doors at 10:00 a.m. this Wednesday, welcoming its 50th edition. On the occasion of this fair, the president of the Canary Islands Executive, Fernando Clavijo, and the Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Echedey Eugenio, are in the German capital. The Lanzarote team has planned around twenty meetings during the event, to "confirm the good prospects" expected from the German market this year.
In the midst of the great expectation that always surrounds this event, the president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, inaugurated the pavilion that represents the archipelago. In a brief speech, Clavijo reported on the good figures presented by the German market in 2015, "with almost three million visitors from this country", and advanced the prospects for the present 2016, "in which one in four tourists traveling to the archipelago will be German". "In this situation," explained the president, "there are two paths: either we fall into complacency to celebrate these numbers, or we start working to improve the quality of our tourist offer, renovate our accommodation plant and expand the horizon beyond our sun and our beaches".
The president of the regional government advocated a "tourist air bridge between Germany and the Canary Islands that uses the arguments and strengths we possess as a tourist destination." In this sense, Clavijo alluded to the offer in rural tourism, the "growing interest" in the sports offer of the islands, and the possibility offered by the islands to develop new ideas for research. "We are an opportunity for Europe," said Clavijo, who hopes that "these fairs will serve to strengthen the dialogue with our main issuers, but also to strengthen ties with other sectors." "We have to be able to face change and explore new paths and delve into others that we have not yet exploited. We have the path open to other possibilities."
Around twenty meetings to "confirm the good prospects"
After the speech, the Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Echedey Eugenio, acted as host of the space destined for the island during the traditional tour that the president of the regional Executive made through the Canary Islands stand. On this occasion, Clavijo was accompanied by the acting Minister of Tourism, José Manuel Soria.
Clavijo and Eugenio greeted the group of students from the University School of Tourism of Lanzarote who are participating in an initiative that is now in its 20th edition. Traveling to the fair on a trip co-organized by the educational center, the students themselves and Turismo Lanzarote, they are "getting to know first-hand" the internal workings of an event of this magnitude, in what "constitutes an exceptional professional experience", point out from Turismo Lanzarote. The students will collaborate by offering information at the Lanzarote stand itself, "as part of their training process." The students immortalized themselves with the authorities in front of the Wind Toy that presides over the entrance to the Messe venue.
In parallel, the work agenda of the Turismo Lanzarote team had begun minutes before with the program of meetings that, in this edition, contemplates the celebration of around twenty meetings whose main objective is to "confirm the good prospects of the island for the coming seasons".
ITB 2016 hosts more than 11,000 exhibitors from almost 200 countries on five continents, in more than 160,000 square meters of exhibition space.
