The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, stressed on Monday the importance of continuing to develop sustainable tourism, after holding a meeting at the headquarters of the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce with the president of the Island Council, María Dolores Corujo, and the head of the business organisation, José Valle.
After the meeting, which Torres described as “productive”, he stressed the importance of SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) for flights with the smallest possible carbon footprint to and from the Canary Islands, as reported by the regional government in a press release.
He added that the best proof that sustainability “is possible and gives more economic returns occurred during the tourism recovery of 2022 in the Canary Islands, when there were fewer visitors than in 2019 but more spending per tourist”, so he understands that this is the way forward because tourism “is increasingly demanding with sustainability (German, Nordic, British…) and more so on an island like Lanzarote with its clear commitment” to environmental conservation.
In this sense, he considered “very relevant” the commitment made by the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote for flights with clean or sustainable fuel (SAF), while he pointed out that the Canary Islands has achieved in the European Union (EU) “being the only” autonomous community with flights exempt from the carbon dioxide tax (inter-island), as well as those between the mainland and the islands.
He added that if they are international routes “they are exempt as long as the SAF model is used, paying the extra cost”, so he understands that the Canary Islands can become a platform for these sustainable fuels for which “there are already companies that are committed to this, as is happening more and more with electric cars because society is demanding it”.
The Canary Islands President also referred to the “successful” work carried out by the Lanzarote Chamber of Commerce to distribute part of the 1,144 million euros given by the Spanish Government to the Canary Islands to alleviate the consequences of the covid-19 on the business fabric.
In this regard, he explained that a total of 174 million came to Lanzarote and La Graciosa, which “considerably relieved” about 3,000 entrepreneurs and self-employed, which together with the direct regional aid and the tourist IBI “was key for many companies to survive”.
For her part, the president of Lanzarote, María Dolores Corujo, stressed that the island’s tourism model “is also based on quality, under the premise that less is more”, energy transition and stopping the construction of new tourist beds on an island that “has always been at the forefront and has transformed tourism since the beginning of water desalination in 1964”.
Finally, the president of the Chamber of Commerce assured that the chamber of commerce is “very satisfied” with the current economic data, at the same time that he made a “very good assessment of the regional management”.
For the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote, the Canary Islands must have a system to produce SAF fuel and thus comply with the commitments to the environment.
