Turismo de Canarias is launching a new digital platform that aims to position the archipelago as the perfect destination for professional athletes from various disciplines, as this is a type of tourist who needs to train all year round to improve their performance.
The platform consists of a "landing page" integrated into the Hola Islas Canarias portal, where valuable content can be found for athletes in the ten disciplines that are part of the strategy, such as triathlon, cycling, trail running, swimming, athletics, beach volleyball, sailing, surfing, windsurfing, and bodyboarding.
In addition, these sports have been defined based on three joint factors: the existence of events included within professional circuits, the volume of concentration of athletes and existing international teams, and the existence of specialized services and optimal conditions for practice at the highest level.
As noted by the Minister of Tourism, Industry, and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, "professional sports tourism is essential for our diversification strategy, as it represents a long-stay segment that reduces our dependence on air connectivity, involves a more sustainable consumption of resources, and results in greater spending at the destination and much more distributed."
Castilla also explains that the islands "have specialized facilities and modern accommodation capacity that make up a highly competitive offer for this tourist."
The communication strategy is aimed at those who make the decision of where to train, both individual athletes and performance managers or technical directors of teams looking for destinations to travel to in order to continue their physical preparation and carry out their pre-seasons.
The first editorial content available is related to triathlon, cycling, and trail running, modalities to which the rest of the disciplines will be added progressively. This content is reinforced by first-person testimonials from elite athletes and Olympic medalists who frequent the archipelago and thus become ambassadors of the Canary Islands.
Among them are the Olympic cyclist with gold and silver medals in the time trial and road race modalities, Annemiek van Vleuten, and the best cyclist in the world in 2020, Primoz Roglic. Van Vleuten says that "training here is easy, the weather is always good, and the motivation to do a six-hour route is greater because you have different high-intensity alternatives with tough climbs."
"For several years, we have been doing our first high-altitude 'training camp' of the season here. It is, without a doubt, the only place in the world where we can train at altitude in good conditions," explains Roglic.
In addition, it will also have the support of Marcell Jacobs, winner of two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and Patrick Lange, two-time world champion of the Ironman World Championship. The latter maintains that "if you do well in the competitions in the Canary Islands, you are most likely well prepared to compete in the Ironman of Kona, in Hawaii."
For its part, the beach volleyball modality will have its representation with the Olympic player Liliana Fernández, and the swimming discipline with Miguel Luque, Paralympic champion with seven medals in the last six Olympic Games between the years 2000 and 2020.