The Tourism Department of the Government of the Canary Islands, through Promotur, will open this Thursday the registration period for residents of the eight islands to sign up for the draw of one of the two modalities of the Tourist Vouchers Somos Afortunados, launched by the area directed by Yaiza Castilla.
Up to 50,000 Canary residents will be able to obtain one of the two types of vouchers, those for accommodation and those for travel agencies, which will materialize in prepaid cards endowed with 200 euros that can be enjoyed until the end of the year.
The Minister of Tourism has invited citizens to join this strategy that aims to encourage domestic tourism consumption. "We believe that Canary tourism should and can play an important role this summer because it is a market that is recovering faster than others and because, as a result of the pandemic, the general motivation is to lean towards a nearby, safe and reliable vacation," says Castilla.
To achieve this goal, tourist vouchers are launched, which aim to "increase the quantitative presence of Canarians in tourist establishments on the islands, increase their average stay and de-seasonalize their consumption beyond the summer," explains the Minister. To this end, this strategy is launched in which the Department of Tourism invests ten million euros (5 million euros for each modality of the voucher).
Residents who want to participate in the draw can register from 12:00 noon tomorrow, July 1, until Monday, July 12, on the website www.somosafortunados.com. In the form they will find, they must choose the type of voucher they are applying for and include their personal data, as well as decide if they want the virtual card, which is generated automatically and can be available in a few days, or the physical card, which needs more time to produce and send to the address, so it may take weeks to receive.
On July 15, the list of winners will be published, after a draw before a notary, and from the receipt of the voucher, virtual or physical, it can begin to be consumed both in accommodation establishments and in travel agencies in the Canary Islands that have joined.
The tourist voucher to be consumed in the accommodation will have a charge of 200 euros to which the beneficiary will have to contribute another 200 euros more. As for the vouchers of travel agencies, these will also have a charge of 200 euros, to which the Canary resident will not have to contribute any economic amount and will have to be used to hire a vacation package that involves a minimum stay of 4 nights in the summer season (between July and September) or a minimum stay of 2 nights between October and December.
For any questions that may arise during the process, Turismo de Canarias has enabled the Tourist Voucher Service, with the telephone number 828 008002, which can be called from 8:00 to 22:00 hours, as well as the email address [email protected].
According to the Department, in just ten days, 777 companies from the eight islands have already joined the campaign, of which 634 are accommodations and 143 are travel agencies. The registration period remains open until December 1, so the number of registered increases daily. "I am convinced that this measure will help reactivate the sector, will allow many employees to keep their jobs and that many Canarians who were not going to enjoy a vacation will do so," says the Minister.
