Cruise tourism is becoming one of the key pieces for Santa Cruz to make its long-awaited motto of tourist capital of a tourist island come true. But that piece has the handicap that on Sundays and holidays the cruise passengers who arrive in the city find the shops closed. At least that is how the hoteliers see it, who have asked the Santa Cruz City Council for “a city open seven days a week” to respond to this tourism. This request was transferred yesterday by the hotel management, Ashotel, in the meeting held with the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, and the mayor of Economic Promotion, Alfonso Cabello, to take stock of a “frankly good” 2022 and the challenges of 2023. Added to this request was that the city offer Carnival to its visitors all year round, with specific actions that allow tourists to enjoy the Carnival “brand”.
This was detailed by the vice president of Ashotel, Gabriel Wolgeschaffen, before the meeting began. “We have been requesting certain aspects to improve the experience of our clients, such as, for example, those that have to do with Carnival, and it is not that you have to go out dancing in the street, but that the client who comes outside of the month of February wants to take Carnival merchandising and wants to know how we manufacture and produce our party, paying what we have to pay”.
The other request, he said, “has to do with the management of cruise ships, which are literally transforming the daily activity of this city.” And it is that, according to Wolgeschaffen, “we are talking about a client with a high purchasing power, who has to feel pampered, so it is necessary to adapt the city to the needs of this type of client”. Regarding this last point, Cabello pointed out that “we are working to sensitize the commercial sector so that it meets this demand.”
good moment
José Manuel Bermúdez wanted to value the good tourist moment that the capital is living in, which is not only reflected in the occupancy data, such as that of the last Carnival, but also in the new hotels that will open in the city this year. “We are talking about projects like the one underway on Calle del Pilar, which is going to be managed by Sol Meliá, and which I think can be inaugurated throughout the year,” he said. Another of the initiatives underway “is the boutique hotel, which will open on Enrique Wolfson street, which already has an advanced project and already has a license to rehabilitate it.”
