Tenerife comes to Fitur 2022 with the illusion of recovering the record levels of tourists reached before the pandemic. On the day prior to the official opening of the sector fair, which runs until Sunday at the Ifema in Madrid, the president of the Cabildo, Peter Martin, presented the island’s strategy for 2022 to the national operators. He highlighted the work carried out in connectivity that “has given us leadership with 135 destinations in 31 markets through 55 airline groups”. These figures, Martín values, “place us as the first destination in the Canary Islands with 36% of regional air traffic.” The president opened the activity of the Tenerife embassy in the capital of Spain during the day prior to the inauguration of the event that will take place today. It did so through a working meeting with some of the main tour operators of the national market. In his own words, he explains that “to advance the most important lines of tourism strategy this year, with which Tenerife wants to strengthen its main source markets and consolidate the figures of other emerging markets that have significant growth potential.” In this line, Pedro Martín has referred to the good data of the Island in terms of connectivity, with 7.5 million airline seats scheduled for this year, which are also accompanied by the consolidation of the presence of international flagship companies.
Premieres or returns
The president has referred to the good result obtained in the negotiations with the airlines in a double track. On the one hand, those that operate for the first time in this destination and, on the other, those that return after a few years. Among them are British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, Aer Lingus, Ukraine Airlines, Aeroflot or AirBaltic. He highlighted the new United Airlines connection between Tenerife South and New York for this coming summer. Martín summarizes: “We are connected with 135 destinations in 31 markets through 55 airline groups, figures that place us as the first destination in the Canary Islands, with 36% of regional air traffic,” he says.
Passengers and investments
The president has indicated that, in the absence of data for the month of December, the Island received 4.2 million passengers last year, of which 1.2 million arrived from airports on the Peninsula, with which the share of national passengers to Tenerife was the largest in the archipelago, 40.5%. Pedro Martín has also presented the main investments in tourism infrastructure, such as those included in the Tenerife and the Sea programme, which include various improvements to the coastline, as well as other relevant actions, such as the one carried out in the visitor center of the Barranco de Masca, the improvement and modernization of the network of tourist information offices, the Visitor Center of the Teide National Park, whose work will be completed shortly, or the improvement of other tourist spaces such as the rural parks of Teno and Anaga. Also participating in this meeting were the First Vice President and Insular Councilor for the Area of Roads, Mobility, Innovation and Culture of the Cabildo, Enrique Arriaga; the island director of Tourism, Laura Castro, and the CEO of Tenerife Tourism, David Pérez. In addition to the mayors of Puerto de la Cruz, Arona, Adeje and Santiago del Teide.
Strategic lines
Among the main strategic lines for this year, President Martín has detailed the actions linked to the declarations of Tenerife as the first Smart Tourist Territory in Spain and the first Spanish tourist destination with an Artificial Intelligence Master Plan, as well as the preparation of the master plan for Tourism cybersecurity on the island. In terms of sustainability, Perdro Martín pointed out: “There are no future possibilities for a destination if it does not invest to be sustainable” and reviewed some of the actions that the island undertakes in this area. “Tenerife is a certified Biosphere destination, with 250 island companies already adhering to this methodology in 2021, a milestone that is much more than a certification and forces us to permanently review and update our sustainability strategy,” he values. In this sense, he has made reference to the agreement signed between the Cabildo and Acuaes, with a planned investment of 170 million euros for the correct sanitation and purification of wastewater, the new Insular Waste Management Plan or the progress in the implementation of renewable energies. The president also recalled that the certification of Teide and the summits of Tenerife as a Starlight Destination and Reserve has been renewed. After this intense start, with the fair already underway, and especially today and tomorrow – it closes on Sunday – the delegation from Tenerife will hold meetings with traditional travel operators, OTAs (online travel agencies), airlines, the media and Spanish tourist offices.
