The Government of the Canary Islands and the two public universities have created the Canary Islands Tourism Chair of Sustainability and Data Intelligence in order to take advantage of the knowledge of these institutions to improve the productivity of the sector that generates the most economy in the islands, 35% of GDP.
The regional minister of the area, Jessica de León, and the presidents of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) and La Laguna (ULL), Lluís Serra and Francisco Javier García, presented this Tuesday at a press conference the new chair that will have a duration, in principle, of four years and that the Government has endowed for those annuities with 600,000 euros (75,000 euros per year each university).
The first of the many issues that this chair will address will be the impact of the tourist use of housing, according to the regional minister, who stressed that the objective of its creation is for the Government to base its decisions on scientific knowledge and not on "occurrences", added the deputy minister of the area, José Sanabria.
"Since the beginning of the legislature we proposed a regulatory review, which we are already carrying out, with the commitment to make laws and decrees based on real data and research that are reflected in the development of public policies with scientific knowledge," said the regional minister.
In addition to the impact of the tourist use of housing, the chair will address the principle of unity of exploitation; the regulation of camping activity; data intelligence and tourism destination management; the Canary Islands Tourism Planning Law; climate change; shopping centers in areas of tourist interest; the new tourist architecture or agreements for the custody of the territory and development of tourist activities.
The two presidents agreed to highlight the creation of this chair as a success due to the economic weight of tourism in the Canary Islands, because it brings together both universities and the administration to contribute to making decisions scientifically, said Serra, who also stressed that sustainability will become decisive in the choice of tourist destinations.
García also considered its convenience because more and more "black swans" are emerging in the economy, which is the term used to describe events that impact it in a surprising way, such as the pandemic and such as the increase in temperatures due to climate change and migrations, and therefore knowledge is essential.
The chair will organize training activities, such as courses, congresses, seminars, conferences or workshops, to disseminate the results of the research carried out, and the development of specific tourism regulations will be promoted within the scope of competence of the Autonomous Community.
A joint commission formed by three representatives of the Ministry, and as many by each of the two universities, will organize the work teams and the research areas, to begin the studies, said De León.
