The council will have €7.45 million to finance the project Tenerife Reset. The amount was announced during the visit to the Island of the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, and comes from the first call for European funds NextGeneration. This is an investment that will be channeled through the Government of the Canary Islands and that “will allow new actions to be taken to consolidate the Island as an example of a sustainable and intelligent tourist destination.”
The planned program includes various strategic lines related to offsetting the carbon footprint of the tourism sector, improving mobility, digitization, promoting gastronomy, biodiversity, culture, improving paths and trails, as well as research and analysis for reconversion and competitiveness of the destination. «Today what any client demands of us is that we be respectful of the environment, that we facilitate their tourist experience through digital tools and, above all, that we be a 21st century destination. That is the objective we are working on and I appreciate the sensitivity and predisposition of the Secretary of State to support us and help us on this path, because Tenerife has to continue to be a leading destination,” said the island president, Peter Martin.
Also discussed this Tuesday were the contributions that other administrations will receive. Specifically, Valdés recalled that, only in this first call for funds NextGeneration, The Secretary of State for Tourism has approved several initiatives presented by the Cabildo de Tenerife and the municipalities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna for a value of 12.9 million euros. In the case of the capital, it is 5.3 million euros for a commitment to “the reconversion and transformation of the coastal strip of Santa Cruz”, the creation of a tourist route related to Carnival and a strategy with the offices of tourist information. As for the Ciudad de los Adelantados, three million are contemplated to complete the rehabilitation of the old convent of Santo Domingo.
Fernando Valdés also reported a eight million euro plan approved for the Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands. Among the different initiatives that were mentioned this Tuesday, the island president pointed out that the Cabildo has presented other projects to the call for European funds in 2021 related to investments in the Anaga Biosphere Reserve, on the Low Island and the Rural Park of Teno, or the Southwest of Tenerife.
130 million platform
Another of the outstanding issues that Pedro Martín and Fernando Valdés reported on was the possibility that Tenerife could be one of the test sites for the new smart destination platform on which the Government of Spain is working, through the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, and in which 130 million euros will be invested. “An issue that, added to the investment we are already making in the field of digitization, would give us tremendous strength,” said Martín.
The socialist president explained that work is currently underway to open Tenerife to new markets in order to reduce dependence on British tourism, “Which we will continue to take care of, because it is our main client.” In this context, he added that surveys are being carried out to discover the possibilities offered by the Middle East, “a tourist market that we have never explored and that works very well in certain places on the Peninsula.” He also referred to Poland, the growth of the French market, the good results in the arrival of Italians and Scandinavians.
Stop at the Lagoon
After the act in the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Secretary of State for Tourism passed through La Laguna. There he insisted on the three million euros with which the sixth and final phase of the former convent of Santo Domingo will be completed. In addition to the mayor, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, Pedro Martín and, on a secondary level, the sub-delegate of the Government, Javier Plata; the Councilor for Tourism, María José Roca, and the Councilor for Finance, Alejandro Marrero. “La Laguna represents an exponent of quality, profitable tourism, which is socially perceived by the resident,” praised the Secretary of State. “We want to collaborate in this project for the future that the mayor and his government team have, which is committed to an innovative tourist destination,” he said.
“We are working to recover La Laguna,” said Gutiérrez, who congratulated himself that “this municipality has finally found that support that we have needed for a long time to make our history and culture known to the world,” and thanked both the Ministry of Tourism and the Cabildo de Tenerife for the collaboration they have provided in this area.
Backgrounds and transformation
Fernando Valdés stressed that between 2020 and 2021 the Secretary of State for Tourism mobilized, with its own and European funds, an investment of more than 76 million euros, to which new projects will be added, among which he highlighted a line of aid for the energy efficiency of hotels, endowed with 170 million euros. “It is essential to bet on that environmental sustainability in the tourist offer that is increasingly demanded by tourists and clients,” he said.
The Secretary of State for Tourism pointed out this Tuesday during the press conference offered by him and Pedro Martín at the Cabildo de Tenerife that the European funds “represent an opportunity to accompany the transformation of the tourism model that the island of Tenerife has initiated, with very challenging projects to become a more sustainable, more profitable and higher quality destination». Along the same lines, he said that these contributions originating in the European Union are now “a reality.”
