José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga assumes the Presidency of the Alliance of Tourist Municipalities of Spain (AMT) in a joint meeting with the Association of Tourist Municipalities of the Canary Islands (AMTC), which he also chairs. Upon reaching office, the mayor of Adeje announces that he will work to achieve a strategic plan for the sightseeing. “We need co-governance and at the moment the harmony with the rest of the administrations is great. Together we need to generate a strategic plan for tourism that is a generator and distributor of wealth, that creates good training, good employment, good services and, ultimately, well-being for citizens. This is the great commitment that the AMT and the AMTC seek, ”said Rodríguez Fraga.
The meeting of the AMT and the AMTC took place at the Costa Adeje Tourism Development Center (Cdtca), where mayors, mayors and councilors of the 18 tourist municipalities of both alliances were cited, representing destinations that agglutinate 44% of the overnight stays in Spain. This tourist summit was attended by the mayor of Benidorm, Antonio Pérez, who handed over the Presidency of the AMT to Rodríguez Fraga. Signify the presence of the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres; the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of the Government of Spain, Reyes Maroto, by videoconference; the president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín; the mayor of Mogán and vice president of the AMTC, Onalia Bueno; and the president of the Canary Islands Federation of Municipalities (Fecam), Mari Brito; as well as representatives of the business community, trade unions and the diplomatic corps.
José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga stated that “the tourist municipalities seek to position ourselves to participate in solving the problems that arise. Destinations have an important role to play due to our experience. 0
Economic difficulties
The president of the AMT recalls that “We have a financing problem that has not been resolved. We need it to attend services. On the other hand, we must provide content with all those messages that come to us from Europe: ecological transition, competitiveness, sustainability, digitization … A job that we must do together, the business community and the administrations. We must adapt tourism to future needs. And all this happens through “that pact for tourism that I speak of, to provoke a change of era.”
Taking into account that tourism «has been and is the economic engine of the Canary Islands and Spain», Rodríguez Fraga maintains that «it can be improved. Faced with this challenge, we detect sensitivity. For this reason, we are going to work together with the rest of the administrations to be present in the decision-making centers.
Regarding the questions that loom over the immediate future due to the rebound in infections from the covid-19 in Europe, the mayor of Adejero pointed out that “we have had a very good start, with high demand. But we are concerned about growing uncertainty. We do not quite understand that there are people who do not want to be vaccinated. In this, we Spaniards have taught a lesson ».
Rodríguez Fraga took advantage of the event to congratulate Antonio Pérez for his management as president of the AMT de Sol y Playa, characterized by his defense of the interests of the destinations that are members of the Alliance and the sector as a whole.
The mayor of Benidorm stressed the growing importance that the AMT de Sol y Playa has in the sector and the need to continue being an exemplary and unique alliance that defends the interests of the tourist policies that are worked out from these destinations.
The recuperation
The Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, took advantage of her intervention by videoconference to point out that “at the moment we are on the path of recovery and this has to do with the success of vaccination. I want to value the effort of mayors and mayors in protecting tourism activity. The sector has suffered a lot in this pandemic and, therefore, we have turned to help it. Spain is a safe destination and we are once again attracting tourism. We are still far from the 2019 figures, but on the road to recovery.
The President of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torres, meant that his appearance at the forum occurs “with the joy that causes us that the Council of Ministers approved the Tourism Sustainability Plan on Tuesday, with almost 50 million for Canarian projects.” The president of the regional government expressed his satisfaction with the beginning of the recovery and launched the idea that “the Islands should take advantage of the situation to take a leap towards sustainability.” Torres pointed out that the challenge for the future will be to adapt to the new tourism and applauded the commitment of the municipalities and the business community to “the tractor projects.”
As owner of the Island Corporation, Pedro Martin stated that “the Cabildo of Tenerife it is very clear that tourism is a fundamental pillar of the economy and employment, That is why we have endeavored to promote the sector with the priority objective of sustainability. We are awaiting the messages that we receive from the municipalities and the business community in order to anticipate and respond to the needs that arise ”. Martín Domínguez considered that the definition of a tourist municipality “should be the great objective for the future and I encourage you to continue on that path. I believe that the councils have a lot to contribute at the present time and thus, together, come out of the current situation strengthened.
The new management team
After two years holding the presidency of the AMT, Antonio Pérez, mayor of Benidorm, transferred the position to José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga. The act of inauguration took place during the assembly held by the Alliance on Monday afternoon in Adeje. In addition, the previous vice president, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, was replaced by Pere Granados, mayor of Salou. Likewise, at the meeting, Jaume Dulsat i Rodríguez, mayor of Lloret de Mar, became secretary, taking over from José Julián Mena, mayor of Arona. The AMT is made up of the municipalities of Salou, Lloret de Mar, Torremolinos, Benidorm, Calviá, Arona, Adeje and San Bartolomé de Tirajana. The AMTC is located in Arona, Adeje, Guía de Isora, Santiago del Teide, Puerto de la Cruz, San Bartolomé de Tirajana, Mogán, Pájara, Antigua, La Oliva, Yaiza, Tías and Teguise.
