The Board of Directors of the public company Canary Islands Tourism, dependent on the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Trade of the Canary Islands Government, has approved the action plan for 2023, budgeted at 61,560,527 euros and which establishes eight key areas that focus on digital leadership, the connection with the tourist and the improvement of the tourism product, among other goals.
The first of these strategic areas is the improvement of the offer which, with a budget of 14.6 million, is made up of two action programmes: environmental sustainability (1.9 million) and improvement of the tourism product (12.6 million), which includes the sponsorship of events in the destination (10 million).
Generation of demand and communication is another area, with 28.9 million and three action programmes: promotion targeting the end customer (23.5 million), with specific segments in addition to sun and beach plus; promotion targeting professionals (3.5 million); and corporate communication and social responsibility (1.8 million).
The demand management area has a budget of 5.2 million distributed in two actions: marketing on the supplier side (890,000 euros); and on the tourist side (4.3 million), focussing on visitor service, loyalty and improving the visitor experience. Finally, the support area, with 8.2 million divided into three programmes: digitalisation and technology (4.1 million); improving connectivity (1.7 million); and tourism intelligence and planning (2.3 million).
Operating costs, with 4.4 million euros, are added to these four areas.
The Canary Islands’ Strategic Tourism Plan: eight cross-cutting lines of action
The first of these is digital leadership, conceived as the key element to guarantee competitiveness. Achieving this leadership involves, among other actions, the creation and promotion of a single digital platform for the Canary Islands tourism ecosystem as a whole, facilitating visibility, marketing opportunities and access to suppliers.
The second axis deals with the direct connection with visitors, the aim of which is to know and respond to their interests and expectations through the incorporation of data unification and attribution technologies that improve the concept of segmentation and are committed to personalisation.
Knowledge management is the third axis, with access to information and its transformation into value as a powerful competitive tool and turning tourism intelligence into a strength.
The fourth focuses on improving the tourism product through innovation and creativity. The participation of innovation institutes, universities and other entities, professionals and experts, and the involvement of the talent of Canarian society will enrich the process of transforming our tourism model.
The extension and cohesion of the value chain constitutes the fifth axis, increasing the presence of the Canary Islands component in all tourism services. The aim is to encourage its benefits to reach more people, activities and territories, making Canary Islands tourism and the economy as a whole more competitive and sustainable as a result of its capacity as a driving force, while at the same time consolidating a more attractive destination for potential visitors by increasing the authenticity of the tourist experience.
Continuous learning is the sixth axis, the aim of which is to be able to face situations of high uncertainty and a scenario of constant change, strengthening the capacity to adapt by anticipating international trends. The next axis is the empowerment of the destination, through which the aim is to achieve greater control of the tourism production process through cooperation with the rest of the agents involved.
Finally, the eighth axis focuses on co-governance and public-public and public-private collaboration, necessary to consolidate the diversity of the archipelago as a strength that avoids the dispersion of efforts, waste of resources and inefficiencies.
The Canary Islands, a leading destination in digital marketing
The Board of Directors also approved the management report and the accounts for 2022, which were audited without qualifications.
The Canary Islands continues to be a leading destination in digital marketing, a fact endorsed by the more than 2,000 million advertising impacts launched in 2022, 84.4% more than the previous year, and more than 9,000 ad groups, 70.4% more than in 2021.
In its second year of development, the Canarias Destino strategy is beginning to offer its first tangible results, especially with regard to the reduction of the carbon footprint of the tourism sector as a whole. A path on which the Islands are advancing ahead of other destinations thanks to our adherence to the Glasgow Declaration, which we did with a complete Climate Action Master Plan that has numerous tools that we are going to offer free of charge to small and medium-sized businesses to accompany them on their journey to decarbonisation.
