The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, inaugurated this morning the Canary Islands stand at the World Travel Market, where he announced that he will travel to Brussels on November 15 and 16 to defend that international flights from the Outermost Regions (ORs) such as the Canary Islands are exempt from the CO2 emissions tax at least during the period 2024-2027.
“For our destination, it is essential to achieve this exceptionality on routes with the rest of Europe, the origin of our tourists, because, if not, our industry would be at a clear disadvantage compared to our competing destinations, such as Turkey, Egypt or the Caribbean”, he said during the inauguration.
An event in which he was accompanied by the acting Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez; the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosana Morillo; the Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León; and representatives of the seven island councils and companies in the Canary Islands tourism sector.
“Although the forecasts for both air connectivity and travel bookings are favorable for the winter season, the entry into force on January 1 of the European Emissions Trading Scheme applicable to flights between the Canary Islands and the rest of the European Economic Area, including the United Kingdom, could have very negative effects on our connectivity in the short and medium term and, therefore, on tourism on the islands”, Clavijo explained.
The president recalled that, although there is no longer any legal margin to extend the exceptions to international flights until 2030, as domestic flights do, “from the Government of the Canary Islands we have been working from minute one to find solutions to achieve a temporary exception or compensatory measures that mitigate the effects of the increase in flight fares”.
Clavijo wanted to make clear the firm commitment that the current Canary Islands Executive has with the transition towards climate neutrality, but he remarked that “this transition must be fair, must take into account our singularities and not penalize the citizens and companies of the Canary Islands more, especially our tourism sector”.