The Canary Islands will host the First European Convention of Tourist Islands on December 1st and 2nd with the aim of "designing and proposing to the European Union a common investment plan for these territories", according to the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Yaiza Castilla.
The First European Convention of Tourist Islands will address the need to define new competitive tourism models to face the challenges, difficulties and obligations that will be imposed by the institutions of the European Union in terms of ecological transition, reduction of the carbon footprint, use of more sustainable resources or digitization and modernization.
In the European Union there are 61 island regions corresponding to 11 countries and representing a population of 20.5 million inhabitants, which represents 4.6% of the total of the European Union.
Castilla explained that "the situation derived from the pandemic opened a window of opportunity before the European Union to reinforce the vision of tourism as a decisive sector in the economy and social development of the continent and its islands." The counselor explained that this new situation gave rise to the idea that the Canary Islands should focus this debate, with a convention in which the need to promote the resolutions and declarations of the Commission and the European Parliament around "a new European tourism policy that is not only the sum of the different strategies of the Member States" will be addressed.
The convention, organized together with the recently constituted Association for Research, Study and Excellence of the Tourism Sector in the Canary Islands, Excelcan, will be held at the ExpoMeloneras Congress Palace, in Gran Canaria, with the participation of the companies Telefónica, Atos and Amadeus.
Santiago de Armas, president of Excelcan, emphasized the opportunity that this event will represent for companies, which will be able to work jointly and with the regional and European authorities participating, not only in person on the occasion of the convention, but also, through the intranet that will be enabled for this purpose, during the pre-congress phase, in order to put common interests and propose, ultimately, transnational business projects, which can really be drivers and accelerators of the digital and green transitions in the island territories.
The day before, November 30, the General Assembly of the Network of Island Chambers of Commerce of the European Union (Insuleur) will be held within the framework of this event, under the organization of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation of Gran Canaria.
The convention will bring together the presidents of the European islands with a strong tourism industry
By holding this event in the Canary Islands, both the Ministry of Tourism and Excelcan aspire to have the Canary Islands group this movement of islands so that, through strategic projects of European scope, it can become one of the leaders of the new European tourism policy.
The convention is aimed at presidents and heads of Tourism of the European island territories with a strong tourism industry; companies with strategic projects from all regions; universities and knowledge centers; and, finally, European authorities that can help promote a common policy.
The event will feature the participation of companies, experts, universities and representatives of international, national and regional institutions. In addition, the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria also collaborates in the organization and, through it, the Network of Island Chambers of Commerce of the EU, Insuleur, has been able to hold its general assembly and annual forum within the framework of this meeting.
The 1st Convention of European Tourist Islands will be divided into six discussion tables focused, among other topics, on European tourism policy, digitization and the opportunities and risks of sustainability. There will be presentations and commissions from the respective tables, which will be responsible for drawing conclusions and proposals that will lead to a joint declaration and a common action plan for each of the different themes.
The target audience of this initiative is, in addition to the different authorities, the European tourist islands themselves, that is, those islands or archipelagos of a minimum economic and territorial dimension in which tourism is the fundamental sector of their economy. This initiative is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, as part of the Union's response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
