SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 21st June. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Tenerife is set to become the host of an annual international summit that will bring together academics and tourism professionals starting in 2025, according to an announcement made by Dimple Melwani, the CEO of Tenerife Tourism, during the closing ceremony of the Tenerife Global Summit 2024, considered as one of the most important knowledge-sharing events worldwide.
The summit, which took place from Wednesday to Friday, was organized by the University of La Laguna in collaboration with the Cabildo, through Tenerife Tourism, and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, with the support of the World Tourism Organization.
Dimple Melwani stated that this annual summit on the island “will enable us to continue working on various initiatives to maintain our leadership in tourism, drive changes and solutions to enhance the well-being of our residents, provide the best possible experience for tourists, and ultimately establish Tenerife as a true centre of innovation in tourism, as outlined in our Tenerife Smart Destination Strategy, which was approved by the Cabildo last year following a proposal by Tenerife Tourism.”
Melwani also addressed the theme of sustainability, which was a key focus of the Tenerife Global Summit 2024, and its practical implementation during the event itself: “We have calculated and will offset the carbon footprint of the event through the Tenerife Renace project, which includes environmental initiatives in the area affected by last year’s forest fire on the island. This was reported yesterday to the Foresta Foundation. Moreover, we have engaged responsible suppliers committed to recycling and reusing, as well as locally sourced products for the conference, and we have shared the goals and best practices that should be observed at any event or occasion.”
Finally, she mentioned that the conclusions drawn from the various workshops held will be examined and compiled into a declaration outlining the challenges faced in tourism for the next decade.
The closing ceremony featured the participation of two members of the organizing committee, Professor Tom Baum from the University of Strathclyde (Scotland) and Professor Eduardo Parra from the University of La Laguna.
Eduardo Parra presented the statistics of the Tenerife Global Summit 2024: “We welcomed 214 participants from 18 countries and 31 universities, representing countries such as Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Spain. Additionally, 26 companies and 14 entities and associations were in attendance.”
Tom Baum expressed his appreciation and particularly highlighted “the connection between academia and the real world, which is not always easy to achieve in the field of tourism. Theory is important, but so is practical application.”
TENERIFE GLOBAL SUMMIT 2024
The event featured distinguished experts such as Natalia Bayona, the executive director of UN Tourism, and Antonio Santos del Valle, the president of the Tourism and Society Think Tank. Other notable participants included academics, tourism professionals, business leaders, analysts, government officials, universities, R&D&I centres, and tourism associations and organizations, such as Dimitrios Buhalis (Bournemouth University), Ion Vilcu (WTO), Youcheng Wang (University of Florida), and Sara Dolnicar (University of Queensland Australia), among others.
The conference, in a fresh and innovative format, was structured around six main themes: collaborative and smart tourism governance; new leadership for sustainable and inclusive tourism growth; the labour market and the transformative competition of destinations; tourist spaces, companies, and people; product development, marketing, and tourism intelligence; and the digital transformation and digitization of tourism. The sessions comprised thematic presentations, professional-academic workshops, virtual meetings, vertical forums, and workshops.
