La Laguna (Tenerife) (EFE).- The Minister of Tourism, Héctor Gómez, has stressed that the tourist forecasts for the next semester are “extraordinary” and, in the case of the Canary Islands, all the indicators “grow, grow and grow” but, he has warned, “the data should not cloud us” regarding the need to initiate a new dynamic of public-private management.
Héctor Gómez, who is the head of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, made these statements after visiting this Friday the La Laguna City Hall, in Tenerife, with whose mayor, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, has discussed projects such as providing the city with a National tourist hostel.
The minister has underlined his “maximum commitment” to this project since La Laguna is one of the three world heritage cities in Spain that lacks such infrastructure that the City Council proposes to locate in the space known as Mesa Mota.
Gómez has referred to the extraordinary indicators registered by the Spanish tourism sector throughout this year in the country as a whole and in the Canary Islands, where an extraordinary response is being given and the pre-pandemic data for the reference year, 2019, is being exceeded. both in overnight stays and in destination spending.
This last section is above 20 percent and this is not exclusively due to the rise in prices in accommodation establishments, but rather because “tourism that travels intends to spend more, experiment and live more”, has assured the owner of Tourism.
For this reason, he has stressed that the forecasts for the next semester are extraordinary and all the parameters will exceed those registered in 2019 but also, Gómez continued, his will is, once he has spoken with all the agents in the sector, to start a new dynamics of public-private management in the country as a whole and in the Canary Islands.
It is about promoting a different way of making public policies hand in hand with the private initiative because, the minister reiterated, “the data should not cloud us regarding the progress that we have to experience in public management in terms of tourism.”
Spain and the Canary Islands are a world reference in this activity but also “we have the obligation to continue advancing and modernizing management instruments” because, the minister of the area considered, the scenario in the European and global context “is very competitive”.
However, he has asked to recognize “our great assets in terms of connectivity” that have led to an almost 70 percent increase in the number of tourists from the United States in recent months, which are characterized by high spending at the destination.
The European market is also consolidating and in the case of the Canary Islands “the indicators are extraordinary: it grows, grows and grows constantly”, Gómez added.
And from this new management dynamic, certain situations such as vacation rentals must also be addressed, regarding what it has considered necessary to “take a step forward and regulate to continue betting on a destination of excellence that goes through criteria and quality standards , that guarantee that we have legal coverage and that the services are excellent”.
In this regard, he referred to the fact that the EU has discussed the possibility of establishing analysis, control and monitoring criteria for the large platforms dedicated to this activity, while Gómez has asked that the autonomous communities determine quality standards and prevent vacation rentals from causing tensions in residential areas.
The latter should be “an obligation” and from there proper coordination should be encouraged between regional and local administrations, also with the head office, so that there are homogeneous criteria in this area and a “highest quality” accommodation offer is ensured.
Asked about the possible impact of inflation in European countries on winter reservations, the minister replied that all the indicators lead one to think otherwise and that both the number of tourists and spending at the destination will continue to exceed month after month, so that “it does not seem that there will be a negative repercussion either in the Canary Islands or in Spain as a whole”. EFE