Maspalomas (Gran Canaria) (EFE).- The PSOE candidates for the Government of the Canary Islands and the main institutions of Gran Canaria have held a meeting with the employers’ association of the tourism sector to address the needs and demands of the sector, with the residentialization of some destinations , Siam Park and environmental taxes as some of the main topics.
The president of the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Las Palmas (FEHT), José María Mañaricúa, explained the importance they attach to this meeting, which closes the different meetings with political parties, to transfer what the sector believes that the Canary Islands necessary “to continue being tourism leaders”.
He has highlighted among the main concerns for the future the so-called European “green tax” on aviation fuel, as well as the issue of the residentialization of apartment complexes or the need for help from the Government of the Canary Islands and the Cabildo de Gran Canaria to ” move forward to San Bartolomé de Tirajana”, which the employer believes that “it is falling a little behind”.
The objective is to “establish the foundations of a future” that addresses concerns such as connectivity and, in relation to the rate of emissions, “to put pressure together so that a strategic region such as the Canary Islands is left out”, or problems such as the residentialization of tourist areas.
The Canary Islands “has already lost a total of 75,000 tourist beds since 2015 and we must not continue to lose what we work for, live for, and that generates employment,” says the employer.
At the provincial level, issues such as the hotels in Fuerteventura will also be addressed, which “the president has already given us his support so that it can continue over time”, or the Arguineguín cement plant, in Gran Canaria.
In relation to the tourism forecasts for the coming months, Mañaricúa, also director of Operations of the Gloria Thalasso & Hotels group, has celebrated that in general the pre-pandemic tourist data is being recovered, “except for Gran Canaria, which in the accumulated data from January to March 2023, has 4.7% fewer foreign tourists than from January to March 2019”.
The island of Gran Canaria, together with La Palma, has specified, “has not yet recovered the tourist data” and, therefore, issues such as shopping centers or beach services that “are weighed down by time and are making San Bartolomé de Tirajana lose some competitiveness” and that he hopes to solve “with the help of the Canarian Government, the Cabildo, the City Council and the employers’ associations”.
The objective, he said, is “joining forces together to renew Gran Canaria and the tourism sector, and above all the lung of Gran Canaria that is San Bartolomé”.
The President of the Government of the Canary Islands, who chooses to revalidate the position for the PSOE, Ángel Víctor Torres, explained that in this meeting they will share the “actions carried out by the organization, the impressions, the suggestions, the contributions and the concerns of the Federation for the coming years.
As he recalled, tourism represents 35% of GDP in the Canary Islands, some 20,000 million euros in 2022 and “with fewer tourists than in 2019”.
Among the measures in his electoral program and as issues to be addressed with the FEHT, he has highlighted the tax on carbon dioxide emissions, “continue fighting for the exemption as an outermost region” within the European Union, as well as the exemption of the kerosene tax, and a “clear commitment to sustainability”.
Sustainable tourism “is what we want for the future and in which we are investing very significantly from the Government” and which is a “priority” in the electoral program of the Socialist Party.
In relation to the debate on residentialization, he has opted to “manage it from the maximum of consensus”, listening to “all parties” to “walk with an industry that is fundamental”.
This debate “is important”, has recognized Torres, who has insisted on the need for “housing policy” that will be carried out “jointly” with the FEHT.
For his part, the candidate for president of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Augusto Hidalgo, explained that among the points to be discussed are issues such as “the complementary and other offer and the rehabilitation of degraded space in tourist areas”, in collaboration with the local administrations to “make bold decisions” in terms of regulation and planning actions.
In turn, he has emphasized the degraded shopping centers in the south of the island and also the “firm commitment to the complementary offer so that a tourism sector such as Gran Canaria does not become obsolete”.
The mayoress of San Bartolomé de Tirajana and candidate to revalidate the mayoralty, Concepción Narváez, has expressed that tourism is “the economic engine of the island of Gran Canaria” and, specifically, Maspalomas Costa Canaria is “a great destination for reference to world level and European level”.
He has highlighted the words of his fellow party members, because “shopping centers are the great pending issue in San Bartolomé de Tirajana in the tourist area” and the complementary offer.
In addition, he has indicated that the PSOE is going to “continue working and fighting for this great water park in Siam Park, which we believe will give a lot of tourist promotion” and will be a “very important engine of attraction to generate economy and employment on the island.”
In the same way, the environment has indicated that “it will also play a very important role with the care and attention of natural spaces” to serve an “increasingly demanding” tourist. EFE