The hotel management and tourism business associations of the Island They support the initiative of the Cabildo so that Tenerife chooses to be the headquarters of the state Space and Artificial Intelligence Supervision agencies. They consider the “very positive” measure as a possible tool to boost the sector from an economic and industrial perspective.
“Ashotel believes, without a doubt, that the possible implementation in Tenerife of some of the state agencies would be something positive for the Island as a destination.” This is confirmed by Juan Pablo González, manager of the Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Ashotel). He considers it an important factor “to strengthen its position not only on the national map, but also in Europe.”
In the specific case of the Artificial Intelligence Insular Plan, on which the possible implementation of the Agency that supervises the discipline of computing would be based, Ashotel has participated in some preparatory sessions for its elaboration, invited by Tenerife Tourism. “We consider the monitoring of various indicators, including sustainability indicators, essential for an intelligent destination such as Tenerife aspires to be,” says González. He adds: “Artificial intelligence is an enabling technology and what machines themselves do is learn processes from people (machine learning)”.
“Candidacies should be provided with a training plan that generates employment on the Island”
Advance in services.
Ashotel considers that the implementation of an artificial intelligence plan on the island will allow progress in the generation of value-added services for our customers. For the tourism sector, and specifically for the hotel industry (accommodation establishments), the Plan itself already contemplates a series of action proposals of interest, such as those contained on page 30 of the aforementioned document. These include the connected smart digital hotel, the intelligent automation of processes or administrative documentation or the personalized generation of tourist information and specific content such as proximity products, restaurants, activities… Also purchase reservations by mobile phone. Also noteworthy is the automation of menu proposals according to preferences or allergens through the check-in or hotel reservation form and an automatic delivery with personalized information.
It also promotes monitoring and automation in kitchens for efficient food production, proper waste management and food logistics control, among other aspects. Another aspect that enhances the master plan is the monitoring of security systems and sensors (IoT) for the automation of alerts, optimization of energy resources, maintenance, consumption… Finally, The analysis of consumption or mobility patterns is proposed to provide greater and better customer service.allocating resources efficiently, according to the needs detected in these aforementioned studies.
«The Artificial Intelligence agency would strengthen the destination at a European level»
“Right decision.”
In 2019, a group of businessmen, professionals and citizens from the north of Tenerife promoted the creation of Alisios Norte, a non-profit association that aspires to give a common voice to the area and channel the most consensual demands of civil society. Its president, Iván Rodríguez de Azero, values the island’s candidacy to be the headquarters of state agencies as “a very wise decision”. But, above all, “necessary”, since “We consider it very timely to promote air connectivity in this regard and create synergies with the tourism sector to diversify our GDP.”
Rodríguez de Azero believes that Tenerife has infrastructures such as the NAP, the Palacio de Congresos or reference centers such as the Astrofísico that can “be a very important pole of attraction to generate complementary economic activity. Without forgetting the “already known” advantages of having instruments such as the Canary Islands Special Zone. The president of the association understands that “if the candidatures are successful, it would be necessary to take advantage of unused emblematic buildings, so as not to consume more land and generate less environmental impact.” He sees it as “a great opportunity to look north and finally be able to establish these headquarters with zero emissions and zero discharges here.”
Training.
Alisios Norte defends as “something important” that these applications are accompanied by a training plan that generates jobs with job qualified and “prepare our professionals both to work in these offices and in the complementary businesses that may be generated around them”. The tourist repercussion would be important because “it is already important that the Island is named in any media, free publicity for Tenerife”. He stresses: “If it is also related to science, technology and the environment, the positive impact is much greater.” Of the Master Plan of the Cabildo «we had a limited knowledge of what we have been able to see in the media. From Alisios Norte we make ourselves available to promoters to collaborate and provide proposals that help the success of these candidacies for Tenerife».
“I would put the Island in the center of the map and there will be more talk about it as a tourist destination”
Tenerife in the center.
The Circle of Entrepreneurs and Professionals of the South of Tenerife (CEST) is a multisectoral association created in 1999 and made up of self-employed entrepreneurs and professionals. Its purpose is to publicly position and defend the interests of the group it represents, “Always respecting the criteria of the general interest of the region”. Its president, Roberto Ucelay, points out that “it would be great news if one of the two agencies were obtained”. In the first place, “because it means putting Tenerife back in the center of the map with an entity of this level.” Secondly, because “it will bring activity and the Island will be talked about not only in the sphere of the agency itself but as a tourist destination.” He concludes: “So, hopefully it materializes.”
The CEST maintains an intense activity in the field of innovation and technology related to artificial intelligence. The most recent example is the collaboration with more than 130 companies in the United States to internationalize their work and improve competitiveness. The agreement signed with the Hispanic American Chamber of Northern Virginia establishes permanent relationships for training, knowledge exchange and the generation of business volume.
