Yolanda Perdomo, specialist from the international tourism consultancy ICF and former Deputy Minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, addresses the past, present and future of Lanzarote's tourism positioning during the celebration of the International Tourism Fair of Madrid.
Is one of the hot topics this year at Fitur premium tourism?
It had to arrive. We all want to attract a more responsible type of tourist, who seeks to be in tune with the destination they visit, who wants to have a differentiating experience and really immerse themselves in that destination. We talk about sustainability, but let's not forget that it also has a social dimension and that a tourist who has another impact can also generate greater value for the entire tourism value chain, not only hotels and restaurants, but also for a myriad of actors in the territory - farmers, ranchers, fishermen - who can have a clear opportunity if the tourism model is much more expansive and the experiences are more immersive, so that we can really give this consumer a solution with this type of product that they are looking for.
In Lanzarote, for many years, the focus was on the more tourists and more beds the better, but are we now returning to the 90s?
Well, surely much earlier, because the model that Manrique already glimpsed in the seventies was along those lines; that is, it is not so much the number as the spending capacity of that tourist. If we have fewer tourists who spend more and generate a positive impact on the entire island, not only in the tourist areas, but in many other places, many more people will have an opportunity through tourism. That is where we have to go. Obviously this takes a phase of maturity. We have done trial and error and it has also been a model that has worked very well for many years, and we, the people of Lanzarote, can attest to that, but we have to improve and now it is perhaps time to perfect that model so that we all have many more opportunities.
The tourism data we had did not match the economic data such as unemployment.
That was a great discrepancy, how could we continue to have the highest unemployment rate in Spain together with Cádiz and one of the highest in the European Union having a successful tourism model. That model did not generate enough opportunities for everyone. That is why we have to look for another type of direction, in which this type of tourism and consumer who is looking for another type of experience generates those opportunities.
Do you think Lanzarote should be present at international fairs more focused on luxury tourism, such as the one held in Cannes?
I believe that right now an exercise in repositioning is being carried out and is being carried out in a very appropriate way between the public and private sectors, which is also a novelty. Because none of this can happen if there is no collaboration. We have to collaborate with each other, not only in the private sphere with people who have normally been competing. In the future, no one can do this alone, because it is too ambitious a project, but with a clear public-private collaboration project that is taking place at the moment, which is highly hopeful. Obviously, work is now being done on this, on making the communication and promotion plan, which goes hand in hand with this new positioning. It is being done very well in Turismo de Lanzarote and I believe that there is a team that is following up on this in a truly optimal way.
What are the tourism prospects for 2022?
I believe that there is a lot of pent-up demand, that people want to travel more than ever and that they have had time to consider issues that they may not have considered before. The pandemic has also given us time for reflection in the sector. If we do things well and are prepared with this product that this type of traveler craves, if we organize ourselves among ourselves and are able to overcome our differences, collaborate and establish frameworks where this type of project really takes place, we will all do wonderfully.
Do you think that these two years of mandatory stoppage have helped us to renew the tourist facilities, to give a facelift to an island that we had overexploited?
Yes, many establishments have renovated and rehabilitated, even as there had already been talk of this new repositioning in the premium segment, many have made that break and I think this has been a huge opportunity. It has also happened with the Tourist Centers, in which there has been the possibility of doing that type of maintenance. Everything in life is an opportunity and if you always live in success you don't reflect, you think that since everything is fine why are you going to change. But when things stop a little and you have time to think about possible changes, things could even go much better. I think this happened and that in everything there is an opportunity. There has also been one in the pandemic.
