The Arrecife City Council informs that next Sunday, August 17, coinciding with the celebration of multiple events for the San Ginés festivities, 9,000 British cruise passengers will arrive and highlights their "high purchasing power" and the opportunities that arise for businesses and hoteliers of the island's capital.
The mayor of Arrecife, Yonathan de León, declared: "It encourages small businesses and the hospitality sector that premises in the Open Commercial Area of the city open on Sundays and take advantage of the synergies with these thousands of visitors who have a high consumption capacity."
This call is made by the first mayor of Arrecife, who is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Port Authority of Las Palmas (APLP), "so that small businesses also benefit from the spending capacity of these tourists who travel on cruises, where many of the next calls will be on Sunday," according to APLP forecasts.
Since 2019, by agreement of the Government of the Canary Islands, the entire municipality of Arrecife has approved the declaration of a high tourist influx zone, which represents the liberalization of commercial hours to all businesses in the capital. The order was published in the Official Gazette of the Canary Islands on March 12, 2019, following a proposal from the Arrecife City Council.
"Precisely, the boom that Lanzarote was already experiencing in that past decade in cruise tourism, made it possible for the Commerce Area of the Canarian Executive to allow the Sunday opening of commerce throughout the municipality of Arrecife, which is already benefiting large food surfaces and shopping centers," they explain from the consistory.
Next Sunday, August 17, the large cruise ships MSC Virtuosa and Ventura will dock in the port of Arrecife, with 9,000 passengers between them, traveling to ports on the peninsula, favoring local consumption by their passengers and crew by continuing, after Lanzarote, between two and three consecutive days of navigation.
Yonathan de León has encouraged "small businesses and the hospitality sector to arbitrate their next Sunday openings considering these cruise calls on Sunday, and that will contribute to the increase of those incomes."
According to the city council, "this is evidenced by the recent openings of new businesses on Calle Real, plus the upcoming inaugurations, which are established in this area of Arrecife given the advantages provided by customers traveling on tourist cruises, with a high spending capacity, which complements sales with residents and local customers."
The Department of Commerce and Tourism, led by Eli Merino, reports that "between August and November, 10 cruises will visit Arrecife that will make their calls on Sunday, a planning that is already known by hoteliers and merchants of Arrecife through the requests for calls from shipping companies transmitted to the Port Authority of Las Palmas."
The councilor recalls that these upcoming cruise visits are already known, and allows small businesses and the hospitality sector to plan their Sunday openings in advance, reconciling rest and family life of workers, with the days of greatest commercial activity in the city.
The Arrecife City Council also recalls that the MSC shipping company, whose large cruise ship Virtuosa will dock this Sunday, already has different cruises for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027 on the market, with Arrecife as its base port. The first of these circuits will be next December.
