The Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, has linked the future development of this industry to the success of the measures to contain the inflationary escalation, both domestically and European, and to "do things well" to generate confidence among travelers.
Maroto, who has participated in a forum organized by Diario de Avisos and El Español and then met with representatives of the sector and tourist municipalities of the islands in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, has stressed that the prospects for the Canary Islands for September and October "are good."
Reyes Maroto has highlighted that Spain must bet on strengthening long-distance travelers, and that as a result of the work done in recent years, a direct flight between Tenerife and New York was achieved.
"We hope that it will not be the last and that we can better connect the islands with a large market such as the United States and Latin America, but also Asia," she added, as this would allow to "de-seasonalize" tourism on the islands even more.
From the point of view of reservations and international flights, it is still appreciated that "the desire to travel" can outweigh the "uncertainty" generated by the war conflict in Ukraine and its different derivatives, the minister observed.
She believes that the tourism market "is resisting", as has been seen in a summer campaign that is being "very good" in terms of traveler flows and spending, which "has to be one of the indicators that should shed light on the tourism model we want to move towards, based on quality."
Investments and reconstruction of La Palma
The minister has specified that more than 144 million euros have been authorized in investments for the development of different projects, which are arriving through the tourism sustainability plans in the destination: of digitalization, energy efficiency, or recovery of historical heritage, among others.
Reyes Maroto has emphasized that these investments must sustain "the recovery of a sector that has been suffering the consequences of the pandemic, now the uncertainty of the war, and what falls to the administrations is to give confidence."
In the case of the Canary Islands, she has remembered the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook and the volcanic eruption in La Palma.
And about La Palma, almost a year after the start of the eruption in Cumbre Vieja, the minister has pointed out that the Government stood from the beginning "next to the people of La Palma to give them hope, to work on a reconstruction plan", through which "more than 400 million euros" have been deployed.
"We know the difficulties that many residents of La Palma are suffering, the most affected productive activities," added Maroto, who reiterated "the commitment" of the central executive and "the reconstruction of the island is a priority for us."
Returning to the future of the sector and its dependence on what the inflationary wave holds, she recalled that the Canary Islands has received "significant investments" from European funds as a "solidarity response" from the EU to the impacts of the pandemic to which it is now time to reciprocate.
"We are an international market and solidarity with countries like Germany, our second issuing market, is very important for us, and in some islands the first," she slipped.
Therefore, "it is essential to help Germany and other countries" so that their inhabitants "continue to travel, choose us and enjoy a well-deserved vacation after the pandemic and several years without traveling," the minister argued.
