SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, has held several meetings on Wednesday in La Palma to analyze the situation of the sectors of its competence, to foresee measures in the short and medium term that help alleviate the crisis that the volcano is generating economic activity and articulating strategies to accelerate the recovery process, once the emergency situation in which the island finds itself is overcome.
The proposed measures contemplate specific promotional actions for tourism on the Island, including the introduction of a tourist voucher; subsidies to local corporations for the adaptation of industrial spaces and the construction of industrial buildings in order to relocate those companies that have been affected, and the establishment of consumer bonds under the brand name ‘ConsumeLaPalma’.
Direct subsidies have also been proposed for businesses, in order to favor investments aimed at improving their infrastructures, physical image and sales spaces, as well as facilitating the digitization and implementation of technological solutions for their business models.
The president of the Cabildo de La Palma, Mariano Hernández Zapata, stressed the importance for the Island of having the support and collaboration of the Government of the Canary Islands for the next recovery of La Palma. “It is necessary to be united and be able to send that message that is so necessary for the future of the Island, which involves continuing to defend that it is a safe territory and that this eruption only affects 10% of the surface,” he defended.
Hernández Zapata also indicated the importance of contributing to the consumption of local products, as well as promoting the industry to promote the development of the palm economy. “One of our priorities must be to encourage those companies that have been affected by the eruption and that are part of our socioeconomic engine to resume their projects,” he said.
As measures that are already being implemented by the Canary Islands Tourism, Yaiza Castilla reported that a budget reinforcement has been carried out in the Always On campaigns specific to La Palma, aimed at tourists seeking nature trips, and new advertisements have been produced in 15 Languages.
Likewise, a landing page has been created on the website holaislascanarias.com with information about the volcano, with the aim of transmitting safety to tourists and a specific communication plan on social networks is being built for La Palma with validity until December 2022.
So far, more than 100,000 users have visited content from La Palma since September 19 on the holaislascanarias website, highlighting the visits received to the spaces dedicated to the Cumbre Vieja Natural Park and the Route of the Volcanoes, which shows the There is interest in knowing the volcanic origin of the island.
Regarding the proposals for short and medium-term actions in tourism, carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Commission for the Coordination of Reactivation and Recovery Measures of the island of La Palma created by the Government, the launch of an international campaign in coordination with La Palma and Turespaña Tourism, in markets related to the island, such as Germany, Holland, Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
Likewise, a national campaign is planned with the authorization of a tourist voucher for consumption in La Palma, in force throughout the year 2022, although the latter will be a pending measure of the credit authorization and possible co-financing with the Secretary of State of Tourism.
Also at the expense of the 2022 budget, Turismo de Canarias is studying a specific call for incentives for national and international connectivity for La Palma, with subsidies for each seat that exceeds the seats operated in 2021. “This measure, together with the notoriety gained with the volcano and as a post-covid nature destination, it would help to break previous dynamics in which the airlines had not just put connectivity on this island, “argues Yaiza Castilla.
Together with Tourism of La Palma and Turespaña, the Ministry will carry out immediately after the completion of the eruptive process and through Promotur, informative virtual webinars, aimed at the tourist intermediation channels of the target countries of origin, as well as a press trip program National and international.
TOURIST DEMAND.
The Minister of Tourism also held a meeting today with the president of the Insular Center for Tourism Initiatives (CIT) Tedote and Asdetur La Palma, Oscar León. This association, which brings together some 200 companies directly or indirectly linked to the island’s tourist activity, conveyed to him through its representative the concern about the low tourist demand at the moment.
Castilla announced that the existing forecasts for the island of La Palma for the whole of the winter season (November-March), as far as air connectivity is concerned, “reflect, as in the whole of the archipelago, an important bet of the airlines by the Canary Islands in line with the strong demand that they appreciate “.
In this sense, to date there are 128,679 air seats scheduled with La Palma for the full season, 10% more than in the precovid winter. “However, it is unknown what effect the current situation derived from the eruptive process will have on it and how long it will last in time, since flight cancellations are currently being suffered due to the airlines’ fear of diversions to other airports,” he acknowledged. the holder of Tourism of the Canary Islands.
La Palma had 8,024 beds in 124 regulated establishments in 2019 (78.7% non-hotel and 21.3% hotel) and last August it was the island that recovered the most activity in relation to the same month of 2019. Specifically, it lost 13 , 7% of its visitors, the smallest drop by islands, and compared to the 35% negative data of the regional average.
ACTIONS AROUND THE INDUSTRIES
As far as the industrial sector is concerned, the action proposal currently being agreed by the General Directorate of Industry includes the prioritization of the Master Plan for Actions in the Field of Industrial Areas of the Canary Islands. [PDAIC] of the island of La Palma, so that a document is available as soon as possible that prioritizes and quantifies the actions necessary for the development of industrial zones, facilitating decision-making in the creation and adaptation of available spaces to relocate the affected companies.
Along the same lines, and pending budget availability, it is intended to promote a line of direct subsidies aimed at institutions on La Palma (Cabildo or Town Councils) for the adaptation of industrial spaces and necessary infrastructures and for the construction of industrial buildings in order to relocate those companies that have been affected.
Regarding Commerce, the counselor acknowledged that “what the crisis caused by the eruption has done is aggravate the general situation of the commercial fabric of the Island. Therefore, what proceeds is to accelerate the economic recovery and reactivate the commercial fabric through of ways to encourage and stimulate consumption, mainly in traditional points of sale, that is, in open commercial areas “.
In order to achieve this objective, the proposed strategy combines an emergency plan with impact measures in the short term and other measures in the medium and long term. In the short term, it seeks to encourage purchases through a communication strategy and awareness of local consumption through its own brand #ConsumeLaPalma.
