august left a bad feeling Ministry of Tourism Canary Islands, and not precisely because of the abundant data on recovering travelers to the islands, but because of the demonstrations of party leaders.flower deal‘ He was involved in the field led by the Gomeran Socialist Association (ASG), and in particular, Yaiza Castile. Your managing partner, Naomi Santana The Social Rights holder and Podemos leader reopened the melon this summer on the need for a watermelon application. tourist eco tax on the islands. Santana says they have included this in their election program and that it is necessary to revive this discussion after the pandemic.
Yaiza Castilla arrives on Monday canary parliament To account for his position on the eco-tax demanded by Noemí Santana. “Now is not the time”The Minister of Tourism emphasizes.
Podemos seems to have put itself on a pick switch with this issue and another sitting in the ABO Ministry like a pitcher of cold water. Juan Márquez, Deputy Minister of Culture Like Santana, she advocates eco-tax rollback on her social networks and in addition, digital nomads on Twitter, Some tourists or possible residents on islands visited by the Ministry of Tourism indulges
It all stems from a tweet written by Juan Márquez in August: “Digital nomad: go home”. The Deputy Minister of Culture announced this Wednesday that his stance had nothing to do with behavior. xenophobic, as some people have noted on the social network. “The thing about digital nomads is a topic that has come into vogue especially as a result of the pandemic, and what they produce is essentially increase in house pricesThey work remotely, perhaps because they come from other countries and have a higher economic capacity, and therefore do not make a profit in the Canary Islands,” explains Márquez. According to him, they are “they barely pay taxesIn any case, it’s indirect taxation (IGIC) and what they’re doing is raising the house price.”
That’s why he specifically wants to point out that he doesn’t understand that they are “trying to attract digital nomads to the Canary Islands” – “as Juan Márquez says”. For what? Problems on the islands? Considering the rental prices, is the access of young population to housing very serious?”, questions that Marquez refers to Campaign of the Ministry of Tourism to attract these people, but data from the Yaiza Castilla region suggest otherwise.
Canary Islands Tourism strategy to position the archipelago one of the top global destinations for telecommunications leave positive results, says this field: there has been an increase in the arrival of ‘remote workers’, some visitors they spend “three times more than average”. The economic impact of this segment on the destination, Nacho Rodriguez, president of the Canary Cooperative Areas Association. Rodríguez finds no basis in what Márquez claims and believes is a “populist” statement. According to him, digital nomads are a sector that benefits the island’s economy in every way.
nomad listAccording to data from the publicly traded company Turismo de Islas Canarias of the Canary Islands, the world reference portal for teleworking, it employs an average of 35,400 remote workers. 3,171 Euros per person and journey, Almost three times the amount paid by holiday tourists, which is 1,206 euros. “We are talking about a segment that represents 0.8% of the total tourism in 2021 and only last year 150 million euros and 2.12% of the total tourist turnover of the islands,” explains the Minister of Tourism. He argues that the results will be better in 2022, as the tourist revenue of these visitors exceeded 112 million Euros in just six months.
According to him, it seems that the expectations that Turismo de Canarias set for itself in November 2020, when it included remote workers for the first time in its segment diversification strategy, were clearly exceeded, thus benefiting and strengthening the wave of communication created around the pandemic. . “The arrival of more teleworkers is very positive For the destination, because we are facing an economically, environmentally and socially sustainable type of tourism that strengthens the guarantee against situations of instability, such as in the case of a pandemic or the current economic situation caused by war. In Ukraine”, emphasizes Castilla.
Torres doesn’t see
As for the eco-tax, opposition groups (CC and PP) and businessmen in the industry disagree with Podemos. the president himself Angel Victor Torres (PSOE), stopped the possibility of applying an eco-tax in the Canary Islands, which Podemos requested, unless the uncertainty in the sector is resolved in the face of a possible energy crisis and the winter campaign. The elections are in May 2023 and everything shows that this topic will again remain in a drawer waiting for the next Manager.
For Podemos, this is a debate that needs to be opened because eco-taxes are already imposed in other countries and autonomies, and he thinks that tourists won’t stop coming to get a euro per night from them and the money will be invested in decarbonisation. Islands, says Márquez. The Minister of Tourism has another vision: you should read it in the first place “Seriously and meticulously ekotax”; secondly, to agree with the tourism sector and thirdly, if the application is decided, the destination of the congregations will always be the location for the tourism sector, to improve the image of the Islands. In any case, “it’s not a good time to implement,” Castilla says.
this high inflation can be a barrier to coming to the Canary Islands and also, if applied per stay per night, as in the Balearic Islands or Catalonia, the Archipelago has the highest average overnight stays in Europe, which may mean a reduction in proportion to the longer duration involved. remains, sentence.