The Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ricardo Fernández de la Puente Armas, and the manager of Promotur, María Méndez, presented this Monday the new promotion platform of the Canary Islands aimed at the LGTB segment (lesbians, gays, transsexuals and bisexuals), "which is contemplated as potentially attractive within the Strategic and Marketing Plan of the Canary Islands, in which the Archipelago competes internationally." This was highlighted by the Deputy Minister, who pointed out that, "in addition, it is a very interesting segment due to its level of spending and the use they make of the extra-hotel accommodation offer." The main destination in the islands is Gran Canaria (Maspalomas), followed by Fuerteventura (Corralejo).
"Following the strategy of continuous promotion over time and not specific campaigns, this platform is born under the slogan Take Your Vacation Out of the Closet and will include different actions and campaigns aimed at attracting and retaining this type of tourism," added the Deputy Minister. As he explained, the website www.sacatusvacacionesdelarmario.com is the central axis of this new communication platform and "is born with the ambition of being a benchmark in the sector, with the collaboration of bloggers of recognized national and international prestige from the LGTB community, based on their own experiences in the Canary Islands that deserve to be shared."
The website will have filters by Islands, categories and subcategories, dates and sexual orientation in three languages: Spanish, German and English, with links to social networks of interest to the community and with a launch campaign, through Facebook, linked to the Gay Pride of Maspalomas, an event that will take place in Gran Canaria at the end of May. "In this sense," indicated the Deputy Minister, "we are going to take advantage of the next edition of Maspalomas Pride 2014 to reinforce the launch of the new site www.sacatusvacacionesdelarmario.com, with a specific action."
A photo and video contest
The action is based on a contest that encourages competition with the most creative video or photo under the slogan "What would you do to come to Maspalomas Pride?" The winner will be awarded with a trip to Pride, in LGTB accommodation, Full Vip pass for the Pride events and participation in the parade float. In addition, the new website will have a directory with the offer of gay-exclusive Canarian establishments.
Regarding the profile of the gay tourist, Ricardo Fernández de la Puente Armas indicated that, "broadly speaking, and based on a sample of exclusively gay accommodations, it can be observed that in the LGTB tourist segment of the Canary Islands, men predominate, of German nationality (14%), British (13%) and Spanish (19%, of which 4% are peninsular and 15% Canarian). They are followed, in order of importance, by Swedes, Danes, Dutch and Belgians. This is a tourist who travels alone or with friends, stays in apartments and their average stay is 10 days in the case of foreigners, while it does not reach four in the case of Spaniards and Canarians."
The manager of Promotur Turismo de Canarias, María Méndez, announced that "during 2014, 170,000 thousand euros will be allocated, through the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) to the promotion of this platform that will include, in addition to the continuous dynamization and updating of the website, specific communication actions in selected markets."
Continuity in promotional action is one of the key factors in the new strategy of the Government of the Canary Islands through Promotur Turismo de Canarias. "Each action that is carried out contributes to the overall promotion of the Archipelago. And not only because they all contribute to the image and notoriety of the Islands as tourist destinations, but also because all the content that is produced is always designed with the purpose of being reusable over time depending on the different audiences and markets," concluded the Deputy Minister.
The Vice-Ministry of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands has already launched, through Promotur Turismo de Canarias, the websites corresponding to the new platforms "Shine Again", "Voy de Belingo", "The Best Climate in the World" and the one exclusively for the Russian market (www.zhivitelnayasila.com).
