SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 4. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, stated this Friday that her department has begun to review this year’s tourism forecasts in the face of the “serious threat” posed by the war in Ukraine.
In response to a question from NC in a parliamentary committee, he expressed his doubts that almost 15 million tourists could arrive in the islands in 2022, as they expected before the Russian invasion due to the improvement in the health pandemic and the latent demand in the markets. to travel to the archipelago.
Castilla has not hidden that the war is a “very hard setback” that totally changes the panorama because confidence in the tourist markets drops, there is “fear” that the war could spread to more countries and there will be a rise in prices and perhaps problems of supply.
He has also pointed out that inflation is at its highest rates for 25 years and that the rise in the price of oil can affect air tickets or, if not, the closure of less profitable routes.
However, he has commented that it is still “too early” to gauge the real impact of the war because it is not known how long it will last and the latest weekly data on air seats indicate that they have risen 4% in the last week, although with Germany fall 5.5%.
Esther González (NC) has commented that unfortunately we have to get used to the health and economic “swings” that prevent us from having certainties about future development, but she has warned that the war is going to have “repercussions” on the Canary Islands because its economy is “subordinated” to tourism.
In this sense, he has indicated that the rise in the price of oil will affect transport and the arrival of goods, which is why he has urged Castilla to review all forecasts and focus on “realizable objectives.”
