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Pájara, scene of the first meeting of the Association with the companies of the sector

The AMTC will seek, together with the Fecam, to respond to the phenomenon of vacation homes

The Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands (AMTC) held an Assembly this Thursday at the Fuerteventura Princess Hotel in Pájara, after which a meeting was held with tourism businessmen. The meeting with the companies in the sector, the first carried out by the AMTC, served to open channels of dialogue for the future.

José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, president of the Association, was in charge of presenting the projects in which the AMTC works, aimed at promoting tourism activity and its transformation. The mayor of Pájara, Pedro Armas, also took part in the meeting; and the president of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura, Sergio Lloret; in addition to mayors, mayors, councilors and councilors of the Association.

Armas highlighted the importance “of listening to large and small businessmen. It is important for us to receive proposals for joint work between the public and the private”.

During the meeting a debate arose about the present and the future of tourism in the islands. Businessmen had the opportunity to present demands and at the same time contribute ideas to improve activity in the Canary Islands. It was attended by the president of Excelfuer, Roberto Jaime; the president of Asofuer, Antonio Hormiga; the president of Altaba, Faustino Cabrera; and the president of AECA, Francisco Ufano; in addition to a broad representation of businessmen from the island of Majorera.

José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga explained that “tourism is currently experiencing a good moment, but let's not forget that we are coming from a bad moment, from a pandemic that has served to highlight what tourism means to us. Today, we are surpassing the figures prior to COVID-19, not only in the number of visitors, but also in spending."

In this sense, the president of the Cabildo de Fuerteventura expressed himself: “Tourism is the most important thing we have in the Canary Islands and we all depend on its smooth running. It is important that the different administrations work in coordination. Our destinations are recovering, but at the same time as our competitors. That is why we must improve competitiveness and thus consolidate growth over time”.

"We are a world power in tourism," said Emilio Navarro, mayor of Santiago del Teide, who was among those attending the Assembly. "Our alliance with the business sector is very important, because they are the ones that generate employment," he said.

In the Assembly held this Thursday in Pájara, and which was held prior to the meeting with the businessmen, the agenda included the assessment by the member municipalities of the draft of the Vacation Housing decree, accepting the invitation to make contributions to it, a proposal that comes from the Canarian Federation of Municipalities (Fecam), in order to give a joint response to this phenomenon and make it compatible with other activities and uses.

The Beach Safety decree was another of the issues addressed, with concern evident at the lack of response to the requests made by the AMTC, whose member municipalities see it as "inapplicable because it is costly." In this sense, the association regrets that their demands have not been heard by the Government of the Canary Islands.

Regarding the project 'Canary Green. Decarbonization of the Destination-Canary Seal in Europe', endowed with Next Generation funds and which was part of the extraordinary call for Tourism Sustainability Plans in Destination, reported the next start-up of the same.

A project promoted by the AMTC, and which is already yielding results, is the Tourist Intelligence System. It is a project that has been maturing and key to consolidating our destinations on the path of sustainability and digitization. There is a clear commitment on the part of the Association to maintain it and to continue generating data with which to plan tourism on the islands.

"Let's not lose sight of the fact that tourism is strategic for the Canary Islands, hence the importance of the issues discussed in this Pájara Assembly," explained Rodríguez Fraga at the subsequent press conference.

“We work to make a commitment to quality, which in current times is equivalent to a commitment to sustainability, which is also economic and social. That is why we want a high quality product”, he added.