The rural land of the Canary Islands houses around five times more holiday homes than those intended for rural tourism, a total of 1,027, which causes this sector "unfair competition" that requires updating the regulations. This was communicated this Monday by the president of the Association of Rural Tourism of Tenerife (TENATUR), Pedro David Díaz, during the presentation of the first *Study on the current situation of rural tourism in the Canary Islands* to diagnose the sector and create a roadmap for the next ten years.
Díaz explained that by analyzing the geographical location of these properties during the preparation of the report, they found that "rural tourism has clear and defined territorial planning" and "it is established where it should be. Its relationship with the territory and heritage is perfect and it does not overlap or encroach on other areas."
However, "vacation housing shows a more dispersed implementation and is not directly related to heritage or land, but rather to the market and the need to obtain income," he added, pointing out that the problem is mainly concentrated on the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
Defense of rural tourism
The president of this association has recalled that rural tourism is that which is based on rustic land with the purpose of conserving heritage and has stated that the growth of vacation homes is related to the fact that this modality requires less bureaucratic burden and to be established on this type of land requires a declaration of responsibility.
The Minister of Tourism, Jéssica de León, stated that both modalities are good for retaining population and generating economy in rural areas, but that there is unfair competition "given that in the Canary Islands no responsible declaration has been verified, you can operate without anyone checking you."
Among the problems identified in this study, the director of El Cardón NaturExperience and head of the work's development, Valerio del Rosario, has pointed out the absence of a clear product definition and the lack of a specific public strategy, as well as regulatory updates.
As positive points, he highlighted that the sector maintains a high strategic value as a heritage conservation tool and that there is real demand for the product.
The purpose of this study is to improve competitiveness and understand the opportunities and challenges of rural tourism, stated the president of the Canary Islands Rural Tourism Association (ASETUR), Pedro Carreño, during his speech.
According to data provided by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, José Manuel Sanabria, the Canary Islands currently have 1,027 inventoried rural and emblematic accommodations, of which 984 are active, representing an activity rate of 95.8%.
Together, this segment adds up to around 5,000 accommodation places, a small figure when compared to the more than 684,000 places of conventional tourist accommodation on the islands.
In addition, he indicated that the billing is 22 million euros, approximately 1% of the regional GDP billing"It is a strategic sector that indeed deserves diversification and protection from the administration, and we are going to do it," Sanabria addedDíaz has indicated that the vocation of rural tourism is not one of exponential growth because it is a **form of tourism that relies on heritage**, allowing from a private perspective a public function of preservation, so the purpose is to differentiate.In this regard, De León has pointed out that it is relevant to carry out differentiated promotion at fairs of this type of tourism, "much slower, more relaxed, in contact with nature and with the values that, on the other hand, the Canary Islands have also tried to position in the last year, much more related to biodiversity, heritage conservation, and far beyond sun and beach."Furthermore, the counselor has warned that "rural tourism owners are disappearing precisely because it is not an attractive activity for the next generations to exploit" and that the study's results point to the existence of a regulatory mismatch and that there is "a need to de-bureaucratize this activity"Reasons why it has been emphasized that rural tourism in the archipelago must be adjusted in the new Law on Tourism Planning in the Canary Islands for the next 10 years.