Tourism offers opportunities to transform visitor spending into resident income and also to increase a place's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, "the exceeding of certain thresholds of growth, mismanagement or weaknesses in the model" are some of the problems the sector faces. This is reflected in the study Fundamentals for measuring the sustainability of tourism, prepared between the Government of the Canary Islands and the public universities of the archipelago.
Part of the expenditure stays outside the islands, as is the case with air transport companies and travel reservations made at origin, through tour operators or online agencies. In addition, some authors question the sole use of GDP to measure wealth generation and describe it as an "excessively basic or biased" indicator.
"The benefits and costs are not always distributed in a balanced way in the territory or among social groups," the research highlights, "which can be a potential source of conflict." In this way, it reflects on the importance of taxes to promote the redistribution of wealth.
The role of tour operators and online agencies
In this line, the traditional tourist territories and their "dependence on large intermediaries" represent one of the weaknesses of the sector. "The Canary Islands is one of the European regions that continues to depend most on tour operators," in addition to the newly arrived online travel agencies. This dependence on intermediaries, which are "concentrated in a few companies, has been a cause for concern and study in several European Union initiatives."
The research warns that intermediation is "a fundamental part of the tourism business, perhaps the most important" and "if the power of intermediaries is excessive, the income obtained by the destinations may be low and they may lose control over customers."
In addition, online agencies are "increasingly in the hands of a few companies that can put pressure on the prices and conditions" of traditional suppliers.
Tourism employment
The research states that "although tourism is one of the fastest growing activities and has contributed the most to the generation of economic well-being" in the world, "negative effects may appear that can extend to the social and environmental spheres."
In the case of the Canary Islands, "insularity, training and the innovation ecosystem" have not favored the finding of "clear economic alternatives" to tourism, which generate income and employment as the sector does. In this sense, the study warns that the lack of economic diversification "is still a source of vulnerability" when exceeding "certain thresholds" and that "greater resistance" to threats must be sought and prepare for climate change.
The research highlights that "the capacity of tourism to generate employment has been included in the list of academic myths of tourism," understanding that "the relationship is complex and cannot be generalized," while neither "can be identified" a relationship between tourism and long-term unemployment that plagues the Canary Islands and the rest of the country.
At the same time, it points out that "a key aspect" for tourism to contribute to the economic well-being of the Canary Islands is to address "salaries, working conditions, productivity and qualification," making a special mention to low-skilled tourism employment, linked to waiters and chambermaids.
Thus, it points out that tourism generates "many needs for specialized services" in areas such as marketing, consulting, design, environmental services, commercialization or digitalization, which are areas that "are not part of the tourism industry in the strict sense," but in which there are "great possibilities" for the growth of qualified employment.
The aforementioned study urges the Canarian Institute of Statistics (ISTAC) to provide "official and timely estimates" of the Gross Domestic Product of tourism for each island.
