Thanks to DIGITAL LANCELOT

The Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, has predicted this Wednesday that 2022 could close with a volume very close to 15 million tourists.

 

Yaiza Castilla, who has appeared in plenary session of Parliament at the request of the PSOE to talk about the tourist prospects in the Canary Islands for this year, has reported that air capacity for 2022 grows by 2.2% compared to 2019, with 18.1 million seats scheduled.

 

The counselor has advanced that this year “the tourist perspectives are quite positive”, since the covid-19 seems to be losing strength and little by little travel restrictions are being relaxed, both for entry and enjoyment of the destination, such as withdrawal of masks outdoors and extension of hours and capacity.

 

“It is to be hoped that this year, yes, definitively, the long-awaited recovery of the travel market will take place and it will return to pre-pandemic figures,” he remarked.

 

According to Castilla, the latent demand for travel continues at its highest, after two years of uncertainty and fear, and with savings generated during the pandemic, in addition to the widespread use of the digital certificate that facilitates travel.

 

However, he has referred to some possible risks, such as new waves of the pandemic, rising inflation, the rise in oil prices and geopolitical tensions around Ukraine.

 

He specified that for the summer season, which runs between April and October, there are 10,583,000 scheduled air seats, 615,000 more than in the summer of 2019.

 

“This summer can be revenge and, as has already been said, they have money to spend it, wherever they go. Getting them to come to the Canary Islands would already be squaring the circle and very ugly things have to be put back in order for that not to happen, ”he added.

 

CC deputy Nereida Calero has called on the Government of the Canary Islands to establish “truly” safe corridors through agreements with the largest possible number of destinations and fixed measures that do not change continuously.

 

The PP deputy Carlos Ester has opined that the Canary Islands should be promoted as a safe destination in health matters in order to compete with Egypt and Tunisia and maintain covid insurance for tourists, since it is “a plus” for visitors.

 

It has demanded that the Government of Spain not row against tourism as it has said it has done with measures such as the requirement of the complete vaccination dose for children under 12 years of age in order to travel.

 

The Podemos deputy Francisco Déniz has warned that going back to the pre-pandemic figures, when 15 and 16 million travelers arrived on the islands, is not advisable and, in his opinion, it would be necessary to reflect on the carrying capacity that the Canary Islands are willing to to bear.

 

He has advocated for a strategic plan so that the Canary Islands can live with fewer tourists and there is a greater redistribution of the wealth generated by this sector.

 

The deputy of Ciudadanos Ricardo Fernández de la Puente has affirmed that the Canary Islands “is going like a cannon” because there are 850,000 more air seats than in 2019, which represents an increase of 12 percent, although he has denounced that the Government is excessively triumphant.

 

He has predicted that the recovery will not come until the end of the year, in winter, which is the high season, while he has reproached Castilla for not knowing how to manage the Ministry’s resources, for which he has asked him to take advantage of the time and do “something more” than what you have done in the last three years.

 

The deputy of the Gomera Socialist Association Jesús Ramos has criticized the words of Fernández de la Puente and has invited him to look for a free hotel place in La Gomera.

 

The key is to recover routes and the lifting of restrictive measures, said Ramos, from the same party as the Minister of Tourism, who believes that the improvement forecasts are not only good news for the tourism sector but for “the economy in general” .

 

The deputy of Nueva Canarias Esther González has insisted on the importance of dependence on tourism as the economic engine of the islands, while lamenting that there are many uncertainties.

 

González has asked the Ministry to focus on increasing tourist spending by visitors and promoting a sustainable destination that has an impact on the quality of employment.

 

 

The PSOE deputy David Godoy has indicated that, once the United Kingdom and Germany have eliminated the restrictions, a more fluid arrival of tourists to the islands is expected.

 

Therefore, he pointed out, “the next few months may be those of the relaunch of the tourism sector” and thus achieve data similar to those before the pandemic, for which, he said, it is “vital” to recover connectivity.