This weekend in the North of Gran Canaria was held to promote smart ecotourism in the coastal and maritime areas of the Macaronesia area
A representation of the Lanzarote Foreign Promotion Society (SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote), headed by its CEO, Héctor Fernández, traveled this weekend to Arucas, a municipality belonging to the Mancomunidad de Ayuntamiento de Norte de Gran Canaria, to lead the third Pilot Steering Committee of the Ecotur-Azul project, an EU-funded program whose itinerary is piloted by the Lanzarote Promotion Agency and whose main objective is to promote smart ecotourism in coastal and maritime regions belonging to the Macaronesia area .
The aforementioned Committee, which was held throughout Friday, day 15, and on Saturday, June 16, with the programming of various activities and visits to town halls and companies related to nautical and coastal resources of the North of the neighboring island, It is part of the biannual meetings held by the partners of the Ecotur-Azul program, a project that has a budget of 1,049,625 euros from 85% of the Feder funds through the Interreg-Mac 2014-2020 project.
The objective of the project is the development of a common ecotourism model that promotes the valorization and protection of the heritage resources of the coastal and maritime territories, contributing to the “Blue Growth” strategy of the area of Macaronesian cooperation approved within the framework of the OP MAC 2014-2020, and focuses on the needs of tourists, boaters (coastal and maritime tourism) and the local tourist ecosystem, enabling a sustainable local development “Sea-Earth”.
It is Tourism Lanzarote, as the main beneficiary of the project, the entity that heads this project in which also participate as partners (partners) other areas of the Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores, specifically, the Commonwealth of municipalities of the North of Gran Canaria; the City Council of Santa Cruz de La Palma; the Madeira Naval Club of Madeira and the Da Horta Municipal Chamber of the Azores. The National Tourism Board of Mauritania and the Municipal Chamber of Sao Vicente de Cabo Verde also belong to the Pilotage Committee as participants from third countries; and as associated participants the Municipal Chambers of Silves and Grândola of Portugal.
During the project’s follow-up meeting, the representatives of the program’s partners discussed, among other aspects, an analysis of the overall situation of the project, the schedule of execution of activities, the phases of operational follow-up, as well as the planning of the activities of the second semester of 2018.
Prior to the session, on Friday the project was presented, with the presence of the president of the Commonwealth of the North, María del Rosario Marrero, the mayor of Arucas, Juan Jesús Facundo, and the CEO of SPEL , Héctor Fernández, accompanied by the Regis López project consultant.
On the other hand, the insular councilor of Tourist Promotion, Ángel Vázquez (PP), indicates that “it is a project that without a doubt for Lanzarote in particular is an extraordinary opportunity with the purpose of promoting the development of one of our main strengths within of the European Sports Destination product: nautical tourism and tourist-sport activities related to the sea “.
Likewise, he adds that “we must not forget that one of the most specific objectives of the project focuses on adding value to the existing coastal and maritime tourist offer with the capitalization of experiences, initiatives and models recognized by the European Union, to promote progress and the generation of employment in coastal and maritime ecotourism “.
As you remember, the Steering Committee of the Ecotur-Azul project was set up in Lanzarote in April 2017, a second follow-up meeting was held in Funchal in September last year, where Turismo Lanzarote took advantage of the visit to publicize the model of the European Sports Destination (ESD) product. The completion of the project is scheduled for the end of 2018.
