The president of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Rosa Dávila, launched various messages that seem to be aimed at the CEO of Jet2, Steve Heapy, who recently gave his opinion on the impact of the movements against tourism in the Canary Islands.
The president of the Tenerife Island Council, Rosa Dávila, has decided to stand up to and show her strength against Jet2 and, in a haughty tone, has made it clear that she does not intend to accept "threats" from the largest British tour operator.
A declaration of intent that, however, continues to raise eyebrows in the Canary Islands tourism sector, where more than one person is wondering whether this tantrum by Dávila could trigger a confrontation with the British giant that could end up costing the islands dearly.
The argument comes from the statements collected by Maspalomas24H at the end of January, in which Heapy, with her usual British pragmatism, issued a warning that did not go unnoticed: if UK tourists begin to notice that they are not welcome in the Canary Islands, there are other destinations waiting with open arms.
Morocco, Türkiye and Egypt have already stepped up their recruitment of British clients, and Jet2 has already shown its willingness to divert part of its operations if the atmosphere in the Archipelago continues to worsen.
In an interview with Canal 10 Television, Dávila, far from appearing conciliatory, chose to give a defiant response to the opinion of the CEO of Jet2, making it clear that Tenerife will not accept pressure from "gentlemen from London who come here to tell us Canarians how we have to manage."
The head of the island council of the neighbouring island did not mince her words (indirectly, because at no point did she mention Heapy despite referring to his statements and to the “CEO of a major British airline”). “Tourism is a very important industry, but there is only so much arrogance here,” the president made clear.
Dávila justified his position as a response to “threats” from Heapy and assured that “it will not be at the expense of tourism workers, we want decent living conditions, decent jobs and also to diversify the economy.”
But here comes the big question: Without real plans in the short to medium term to attract an industry that contributes at least a quarter of what the tourism sector contributes in the Canary Islands to achieve that longed-for “diversification of the economy” that regional politicians like to talk about so much, is the Canary Islands in a position to allow itself the luxury of scaring away British tourism?
Because, whether you like it or not, and although various sectors (social and institutional) have indicated that British tourists are not “of quality”, the reality is that they are the largest source market for tourists to destinations such as Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés, as well as other islands such as Tenerife and Lanzarote.
Any move that could be interpreted as a snub to British tourists could represent a golden opportunity for the competition, which is beginning to see how the political and social instability in the Canary Islands related to tourism could be a goldmine for the next winter market and who knows, maybe even this summer.
