Doris Borrego, president of the Canarian Vacation Rental Association (Ascav) highlights the good performance of this sector during the pandemic, “in which there was hardly any closure, without being able to get a home with a swimming pool, for example”. He also regretted that “we are the only tourism sector that has not received any kind of help from the administrations”, despite the fact that “We represent 27% of tourism in the Canary Islands”, commented on Onda Tenerife days before the opening of the first International Vacation Rental Congress that is organized in the Islands, specifically in Adeje, one of the municipalities, together with Arona and Granadilla de Abona, which concentrate more vacation rental homes in Tenerife, Island that has 18,000 accommodations of this type, of the 37,791 registered in the Archipelago.
The president of Ascav points out that “during the pandemic, bubble housing has been the resource of many of our tourists, so much so that some who were caught by the pandemic here renewed the contract to pass the confinement between us, without wanting to return to their countries, in addition to the arrival of many teleworkers. It has been consolidated so much that the demand continues today; This summer has been even higher than in 2019, before the pandemic. We have exceeded 75% occupancy and this winter is presumed to be very good ”.
The volcano
Borrego regrets what is happening in La Palma as a result of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano: “From minute one the reservations have been canceled and all those holiday homes are occupied by evicted people from the volcano, how could it be otherwise” . He also recalled that “many of those affected who have lost their homes had them for vacation rental, some as their only economic support, in an area in high demand for this practice.”
The president of Ascav is against the regulation of rent, as the state government intends with a new law to be processed in Congress. “We have to read the fine print of that draft, but we are against interventionism in any type of rental. That happened in cities such as Berlin and Paris, and in the end the effect was the opposite of what they intended, the black economy appeared and the supply of flats and houses on the market was reduced, so they backed down. Now in Spain we intend to copy what has already been shown that it does not work, ”Borrego remarked.
First International Congress of Vacation Rentals in the Islands
The Canarian Association of Vacation Rentals (Ascav), founded in 2004 and which brings together 1,500 owners between individuals and small businesses, celebrates tomorrow and the day after in Adeje the I International Congress of Vacation Rentals in the Canary Islands in which it brings together some thirty experts to analyze the challenges and opportunities of this type of tourist accommodation on the rise.
The event, which has the collaboration of the Ministry of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, Tourism of Tenerife and the Adeje City Council, will have the participation of regional, national and international experts, including members of the UNWTO (World Organization Tourism) to analyze how tourism demand has changed in the new postCOVID normality.
Among the challenges and keys of the sector, the panel of experts will address regulatory aspects, the challenges of vacation rentals for tourism sustainability and the economic diversification of destinations or the keys to digitization, the development of technological projects and the export of knowledge for position the Canary Islands as a world tourism leader.
