Rural tourism 'hallmark of the Canary Islands destination'

 

The Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León, defended this Friday in a parliamentary committee the need to promote rural tourism on the islands, “a modality that represents our hallmark, the recovery of heritage and what “It is being a canary.”

 

“Rural tourism rescues that essence that we have in the interior of the islands, and its actors are custodians of the territory, agents of true sustainability who offer visitors a real experience of the Canary Islands that we are and that we were,” said De León.

 

 

 

 

Despite this, the counselor warned that this activity is dying “because for a long time we have looked the other way, with a regulatory framework that is 30 years old, which is why one of the main objectives of the ministry is to reform the tourism regulatory framework. ”.

 

“It is time for the Canary Islands to understand the rural environment as an agent where the territory is established, where quality and sustainable employment is generated,” said De León, who announced that with this objective, the ministry will reinforce the promotion strategy and will work together to other areas of Government to make the bureaucratic obstacles that rural tourism endures today more flexible.

 

Promotion strategy 

 

In recent months, the Ministry of Tourism and Employment has promoted different actions to promote rural tourism, with promotional actions that highlight the beauty of the Canarian landscapes, its trails, its local products, its commitment to sustainability, its culture and history. These actions, developed by the public company Turismo de Islas Canarias, are part of two programs aimed, on the one hand, at the end customer, and on the other, at professionals.

 

According to De León, the End Customer Promotion Program, endowed with 4.805.565 euros, was designed with the purpose of “inviting visitors to explore a unique destination,” through actions that promote nature and identity tourism. ; active tourism (non-blue and blue) and cultural.

 

Within this program, the counselor highlighted the strategy to attract hiking lovers, as well as the “The Secret is Inside” campaign, whose objective is to attract a tourist who is not only looking for sun and beach, but also to explore the place. that visits and discover all its corners. She also valued the “Islands with a lot to tell” campaign, aimed at tourists who choose the archipelago for its cultural offerings.

 

“Through this campaign, pieces are created that exalt the identity of the Canarian people and present emblematic places that are considered cultural heritage, such as museums or archaeological enclaves, mostly located in rural environments,” De León stressed. “These contents are inserted in eight markets of interest: Germany, Spain, France, Holland, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland,” he added.

 

On the other hand, the Promotion Program aimed at Professionals focuses on specialized actions in sports, nature and adventure tourism. One of the most important milestones in this sense was the participation this year for the first time in Tierra Adentro, the event with the longest history and positioning of Andalusia.

 

Also within the framework of this program, the Canary Islands attended the Fiets en Wandelbeurs fair in Belgium, specialized in cycle tourism and hiking, and took part in ROC D'AZUR in France, the most important mountain bike event in the world. Likewise, he exhibited photographs and recordings of the natural landscapes of each island at the Photo+Adventure in Austria.

 

De León insisted that all these actions demonstrate the ministry's commitment to rural tourism that "we aspire to increase in quality, in line with the objectives of sustainable development." He concluded by emphasizing that the new strategy will allow the loyalty of visitors who increasingly value the identity of the destination, its natural landscapes and its commitment to the local fabric.