The member of the Mixed Group in the Island Council of Lanzarote and mayor of Yaiza, Óscar Noda, has registered a question before the island government related to the historical request of the Yaiza City Council that demands the arrival of medium-scale cruises to the newly expanded Port of Playa Blanca, a facility of general interest and equipped with technical conditions to accommodate luxury cruise traffic.
These are ships characterized by having about 200 meters in length and a capacity of about 1000 passengers, much less than the 6000 that a regular cruise can have. “We advocate for smaller ships and aimed at an audience with high purchasing power. This has always been our defense, because in addition to having the port infrastructure to guarantee operations, the destination, and I speak of Yaiza and Lanzarote, is attractive and has tourist services for visitors”, emphasizes Óscar Noda.
Given the lack of information on the subject, Noda wants to know if the aforementioned port has been marketed, from the Cabildo or from the SPEL, for example, at the last cruise fair in Malaga, or in any meeting with tour operators related to this matter and if actions have been required from Puertos Canarios or if the manifest commitment of said public entity and its commercial missions are being monitored.
Since 2018, Puertos Canarios has defended a positioning strategy for its ports destined to accommodate cruise stopovers, differentiated from the large state ports, and focused on the small and medium-sized luxury cruise sector. The estimate is that the average expenditure per tourist on a luxury cruise is 150 euros, so that if there is an average occupancy of 300 passengers on each luxury cruise for the 20 annual stopovers estimated by Puertos Canarios, the cruise tourism sector could contribute around 900,000 euros per year to the local economy of the municipality of Yaiza.
These are data from a study by Puertos Canarios on the analysis of the competitiveness of the port of Playa Blanca in relation to the luxury cruise market and its socioeconomic impact on the municipal tourist destination, commissioned by the entity at the request of the Yaiza City Council.
“The president of the Cabildo said in April, after the celebration in Miami of the most important cruise tourism meeting in the world, that the cruises would dock in Playa Blanca next season, and our season is the winter season, it is already here, and we do not know anything, and what we do know is that Playa Blanca needs an extra investment for the port control center”.
Óscar Noda also points out that “studies indicate that there are expectations of growth in the sector because shipping companies and shipowners are investing in new ships and consequently there will be demand to satisfy”. According to a survey conducted by the International Association of Cruise Ship Owners, 85% of passengers who took a cruise in the past are thinking of repeating the experience.
"More than speeches and statements to the media, Óscar Noda asks for concrete facts" to make profitable an investment of more than 40 million euros, financed 85% by European funds: “I have been demanding the implementation of cruise tourism in Playa Blanca for months, or rather years. I requested a competitiveness analysis and evaluation of the economic impact caused by the medium and boutique cruise segment at the destination from Puertos Canarios, and I have to thank its former managing director, Manuel Ortega, for his attention. However, I said it in the last legislature and I continue to say it now: we continue to miss the drive from the Cabildo de Lanzarote”.