Latest news with #FVWTravelTalk
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Yahoo
Major airline boss wades into Canary Islands anti-tourism debate amid protests
A major airline boss has waded in on the anti-tourism debate in the Canary Islands, warning that 'if politicians are not careful, they will put the tourism in the Canary Islands at risk'. At a tourism conference held by German-based travel media publication FVW Travel Talk in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, the commercial director of Condor Airlines Christian Lesjak reportedly spoke out on the growing anti-tourist sentiment on the Canary Islands. While about 50 tourism industry experts and German travel agents gathered for the conference at Hotel Mencey, demonstrations organised by the activist movement Canarias Tiene Un Límite (The Canary Islands Have a Limit) gathered outside to try and call for action what they describe as an unsustainable tourism model on the islands. Speaking to GeoTenerife, a science travel company, Mr Lesjak acknowledged that the protesters are legitimate in their concerns. 'We are interested in the cultural and ecological integrity of the island because it is a product that needs to be protected,' he stated, according to Canarian Weekly. When asked what he would tell those campaigning for limits on tourism, he encouraged them to "put pressure on politicians, who must take responsibility." GeoTenerife director Sharon Backhouse said she welcomed the remarks from the German-based airline boss, describing it as 'a significant move by a key industry player to support the voices of Canarians calling for change'. Ahead of the planned protest at the hotel, one group within the movement said on social media that 'mass tourism is destroying the Canary Islands. 'There is no limit and tourism continues to grow uncontrolled, leading the islands towards environmental and social collapse. 'We continue to swim in sewage and endure hours of traffic jams every day, while tourism continues to grow and these problems get worse. 'The coast, which belongs to everyone, continues to be destroyed to build hotels and housing estates for foreigners.' The group added that tourism does not generate wealth for the local population, nor is it helping with the protection of natural areas. 'Locals can no longer enjoy the special places on our islands without being surrounded by tourists,' they added. Protesters have been taking to the streets to try and call their government and industry authorities to take action against mass tourism. Thousands of people in Tenerife carried out a demonstration in April 2024, calling for a temporary limit on tourist arrivals to try and quell a boom in short-term holiday rental and hotel constructions. Holding placards reading 'people live here' and 'we don't want to see our island die', campaigners said changes must be made to the tourism industry that accounts for 35 per cent of gross domestic product in the Canary Islands. Protests have continued since, with one demonstration in October held simultaneously in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and El Hierro, calling for a change in the tourism model for the islands. In the Playa de las Americas in Tenerife, protesters appeared on the beach while tourists were sunbathing and chanted 'this beach is ours.'
The Independent
21-02-2025
- The Independent
Major airline boss wades into Canary Islands anti-tourism debate amid protests
A major airline boss has waded in on the anti- tourism debate in the Canary Islands, warning that 'if politicians are not careful, they will put the tourism in the Canary Islands at risk'. At a tourism conference held by German-based travel media publication FVW Travel Talk in Santa Cruz, Tenerife, the commercial director of Condor Airlines Christian Lesjak reportedly spoke out on the growing anti-tourist sentiment on the Canary Islands. While about 50 tourism industry experts and German travel agents gathered for the conference at Hotel Mencey, demonstrations organised by the activist movement Canarias Tiene Un Límite (The Canary Islands Have a Limit) gathered outside to try and call for action what they describe as an unsustainable tourism model on the islands. Speaking to GeoTenerife, a science travel company, Mr Lesjak acknowledged that the protesters are legitimate in their concerns. 'We are interested in the cultural and ecological integrity of the island because it is a product that needs to be protected,' he stated, according to Canarian Weekly. When asked what he would tell those campaigning for limits on tourism, he encouraged them to "put pressure on politicians, who must take responsibility." GeoTenerife director Sharon Backhouse said she welcomed the remarks from the German-based airline boss, describing it as 'a significant move by a key industry player to support the voices of Canarians calling for change'. Ahead of the planned protest at the hotel, one group within the movement said on social media that 'mass tourism is destroying the Canary Islands. 'There is no limit and tourism continues to grow uncontrolled, leading the islands towards environmental and social collapse. 'We continue to swim in sewage and endure hours of traffic jams every day, while tourism continues to grow and these problems get worse. 'The coast, which belongs to everyone, continues to be destroyed to build hotels and housing estates for foreigners.' The group added that tourism does not generate wealth for the local population, nor is it helping with the protection of natural areas. 'Locals can no longer enjoy the special places on our islands without being surrounded by tourists,' they added. Protesters have been taking to the streets to try and call their government and industry authorities to take action against mass tourism. Thousands of people in Tenerife carried out a demonstration in April 2024, calling for a temporary limit on tourist arrivals to try and quell a boom in short-term holiday rental and hotel constructions. Holding placards reading 'people live here' and 'we don't want to see our island die', campaigners said changes must be made to the tourism industry that accounts for 35 per cent of gross domestic product in the Canary Islands. Protests have continued since, with one demonstration in October held simultaneously in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and El Hierro, calling for a change in the tourism model for the islands. In the Playa de las Americas in Tenerife, protesters appeared on the beach while tourists were sunbathing and chanted 'this beach is ours.'
Local Spain
11-02-2025
- Local Spain
Tenerife calls Spain's first mass tourism protest of 2025
The first protests, which took place back in the islands' main cities in April 2024, were the largest in the islands' history. These were followed by another round of protests in tourist hotspots across the archipelago's seven islands in October 2024 after little changed in terms of legislation. Now, the organisation behind the first two round of demonstrations, Canarias Tiene un Límite (The Canary Islands have a limit), is calling for a third protest, this time only in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The march will coincide with the FVW Travel Talk congress from February 15th to 19th, which Tenerife's capital is hosting. The conference is considered one of the most important events in the German tourism industry and is being supported by the Tenerife Tourism Council. On its social media channels, Canarias Tiene un Límite explained that the tourism event will bring together fifty experts from the tourism sector and German travel agents, and this is who they want to target with their new protest. "On Sunday, February 16th, we call on everyone to attend the rally on the Ramblas of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in front of the Mencey Hotel, to boycott the employers" at that congress, they wrote. The organisation argues that 'mass tourism is destroying the Canary Islands. The archipelago received 18 million tourists in 2024, a completely unsustainable figure. There is no type of limit, and tourism continues to grow uncontrollably, leading the islands towards environmental and social collapse. We continue swimming in sewage and enduring hours of traffic jams every day, while tourism does not stop growing and these problems get worse'. Tourist numbers have been putting increasing pressure on the 2,000-square-kilometre island of Tenerife, which is already home to just under a million people. As half of Tenerife's territory is protected non-urban land, the population density – in terms of tourists and residents - now stands at almost 1,000 people per square kilometre. This is compounded by the housing crisis, which is currently affecting much of Spain, as rents and house prices are unaffordable for locals, who have second lowest wages of all regions in the country. There also aren't enough properties to go around, and the number of tourist rentals keeps growing. This group emphasises that the current "tourism model does not generate wealth for the local population. Tourists find hundreds of holiday rental options, while people here find it practically impossible to rent a house to live in'. 'There is no effective protection for natural spaces, and tourists come to the Canary Islands to behave as if this were a theme park, where they can do whatever they want. Locals can no longer enjoy the special places on our islands without being surrounded by tourists. And the list goes on: it is very long', they add. In the past, protesters in the Canary Islands have made clear that they are not blaming tourists for the oversaturation, but the mass tourism model that the government has promoted to grow without any limitations. Residents fear that the island faces collapse in terms of services, housing, population and environment if nothing is done to correct the mistakes of the past. Similar protests against mass tourism and the housing crisis took place last year in Barcelona, Málaga, Madrid, Granada, Alicante and the Balearic Islands and more may be organised in 2025 if the situation doesn't change.
