Luis Alvarado, from Lanzarote, who also presided over the European Youth Forum and worked with the Rockefeller Foundation, wants a long-term public-private sustainable tourism plan for his island. He believes that the public administration and companies in Lanzarote currently have closer positions than ever before, despite the resistance that may exist in some sectors. In an interview with Ekonomus, he explains the advantages of achieving this agreement.
- The president of the Cabildo, María Dolores Corujo, recently stated that the island, with almost 3 million tourists a year, is saturated. Do you agree?
I think the diagnosis is accurate and I think that, after 30 years in which there has been a ping pong game between the public and private sectors to reach an agreement, we are seeing a new generation of entrepreneurs who are realizing that the future is different and an administration that is having to deal with an economic activity that, despite the occupancy levels, is not giving back enough to our community.
Currently, there is an alignment that is not often seen between entrepreneurs and public administration to position ourselves as a premium destination, with more quality and more spending per tourist. It is a magical moment that Lanzarote is experiencing, possibly due to the legacy of César Manrique, although there is also resistance and fear of change because there are many people involved.
- The president of the Chamber of Commerce, José Valle, in an interview with Radio Lanzarote this week, said that Corujo's statements "do not represent the line that is wanted to be followed" and that he did not rule out continuing to grow despite betting on more quality and more spending.
I think Valle's statements reflect a duality that we have to live with. It is not about stopping growing, but about growing in a way that is respectful of the environment and that reverts to the local economy. I think they are both reaching similar diagnoses. There are many ways to achieve higher quality tourism. For example, coworking and coliving entrepreneurs in Gran Canaria have calculated that 155,000 digital nomads would spend the same as the 15 million tourists who visit the Canary Islands every year.
- Do you think that, despite the resistance, a public-private roadmap can be developed?
The most important thing in this era, where we are experiencing not a crisis, but a series of crises that collide with each other and end up in a cascading effect, is that every solution has to come from the hand of the public-private sector. No actor is capable of doing this alone. The new entrepreneurs want to contribute to the social good, they know that it is useless to have full hotels if the employees do not have a better quality of life. This data is reaching the tables of CEOs and the tables of presidents and mayors. Now it is about, knowing the diagnosis, being able to create a joint long-term roadmap without political colors and that is not limited to the legislatures.
In the context of the current polycrisis in the world, the one who manages to reach agreements and get things done is the one who wins, so I hope that Lanzarote can be that incubator of sustainable tourism, where things go ahead.
- To move from mass tourism to tourism with higher spending, for example with digital nomads, what infrastructure does the island need?
We have to have the fastest internet wifi connection available and provide sustainable mobility. This type of tourist does not want to own cars. They can be electric cars, with alternatives to charge them, with business models where you can enter and exit from different collaboration or rental frameworks and that can be shared.
We also have to continue renovating accommodations to be energy sustainable. This type of profile seeks to leave the territory they go to better than when they arrived.
And reinvent our tourism model to give them opportunities to contribute positively to the environment. There are pioneering places in this sense such as Barbados or Reunion, which are inviting this type of tourist to clean beaches, replant forests, clean the seabed. They are rethinking their tourism in the form of adventure and improvement of the impact, that is something that in Spain still costs us.
In addition, we must continue working on a gastronomic offer of international quality and make a transition towards quality digital public services that can operate in different languages. If we intend everyone to learn Spanish, we are going to lose.
- Some fear that fewer tourists, even if they spend more, will mean fewer net jobs, what do you think?
On the contrary, this type of tourism would generate many jobs related to the territory and the local ecosystem. In addition to jobs in the field of digital entrepreneurship and startups. A whole repertoire of new financial tools would be generated for tourism and technology companies to develop systems to make the transition to sustainable tourism.
In the field of startups, the island territories, which are many in the world and will be the most affected by global warming, will need innovation and new tools to adapt. That will create a new generation of technology companies and new tools, which Lanzarote could take advantage of. There would also be employment niches in renewable energies.
In gastronomy, new ways of cooking, new dishes and new models of sustainable gastronomy will be developed. Also in the field of new experiences for tourists.
In addition, we have a very important artistic legacy in Lanzarote and we can offer the infrastructure we have to create international artist residencies that come from all over the world to create art here and train local artists so that they can then leave. There are already some things, but we can do much more, we can take advantage of César's legacy to identify the next thousand César Manriques.
- What are the main objectives of the 'Canary Islands Net Zero' sustainability and zero emissions cluster promoted by Lanzarote entrepreneurs within the framework of the World Economic Forum?
In the medium term, the cluster will help all companies in Lanzarote and also in the Canary Islands to understand what their environmental impact and emissions are in order to create plans and make that transition as quickly as possible. It will also create a coordination platform for companies to agree on strategic projects for the next three decades and then present them to the administrations jointly. For example, with a view to the European Union, the cluster could request an exemption from the green air tax in exchange for piloting the first tests of flights with green fuel in the Canary Islands. Companies want to invest, all they ask for is a roadmap and a legislative framework that does not change every four years.
- Would you agree to establish a new moratorium for Lanzarote in the number of beds as the Balearic Islands has done to rethink its tourism model?
I generally do not like moratoriums, although I think they are necessary when working at the same time to change a model. Today I would say, be careful with just a moratorium. Let's create a holistic plan that says this is the transition we want to make, a pact that says, in the next 30 years this is the territory we want to become, independent of political changes. And then, every four years, the government can innovate within that, but there has to be a long-term plan. It may be worth sitting down with the people who have building rights for new places and proposing creative alternatives to generate different growth instead of new beds. There are many other ways to generate economic returns.
- Speaking of economic innovation, could Lanzarote create an investment fund with money from tourism in the way that Norway did with money from its fossil fuels?
It would be spectacular. We have to create that type of tool, there are already territories that are doing it. There are many models. What we need most is to have open debates, my concern is that there are few spaces in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands and in Spain where those debates can be held and when you do not have that space to debate, you can not put the cards on the table, that is, this is what we want, this is the model we want. How do we get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, improving the quality of life and investment in each family in the coming years.
- Which forums are working best to carry out these debates?
I am pleasantly surprised with how the Chamber is creating this type of debate, because I had not seen them before, in previous generations. But more is needed and with more public participation. I would also like to see leading organizations at an intellectual level such as the César Manrique Foundation participate. The cluster also aims to be an important forum, but we must involve the Cabildo and all the mayors and then we must take that to the rest of the Canary Islands.
- The Society for the External Promotion of Lanzarote is trying to attract North American tourists by promoting, among other measures, a combined trip between Tenerife and Lanzarote taking advantage of the direct flight from New York, what do you think?
I think it's very accurate. We have to be more ambitious, Spain has a great office in New York, from where we can promote Lanzarote and tell our stories there. And as I say United States I also say China, which is experiencing the largest growth of the middle class in the world.
