No. 2 - Its Gran Canaria Magazine

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INTERVIEW I ENTREVISTA Nº 2
Carlos Álamo Cabrera
Tourism Councillor at
the Cabildo de Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria, a safe destination
Carlos Álamo has been Tourism Councillor of Gran Canaria for just over a year. It has been a
year to grab by the scruff of the neck and face up to probably the most complicated period
ever on our island in terms of tourism. His term started with Brexit, the Thomas Cook crisis
and now a world pandemic.
The world’s leading holiday destinations are going through complex and weird times
due to COVID-19. How would you describe the current situation in Gran Canaria?
I would firstly like to point out that Gran Canaria is a tourist destination that offers a good
health situation and has optimum conditions for welcoming tourists. Although the numbers
of coronavirus cases has risen in certain areas, we have reacted with a series of measures
that are providing the right results. Therefore, we can say that our situation is a good
one. We have always been a safe destination and will continue to be so, in all senses. However,
the reality of this health situation has led to economic reactivation forecasts back in
the early summer not being fulfilled due to the huge fall in tourist bookings and a scenario
of quarantines and international restrictions on movement for tourists and travellers, which
has hurt all of us.
Over the last few months, supported by some positive data, we have carried out a number
of large scale national and international promotional campaigns, which are exceeding
our expectations. Forecasts at the end of June pointed to a fast recovery, with nearly 50%
of airline connectivity back up and running and a return to activity for a large part of the
hotel industry, in other words, we were on the right track for the sector to recover. We then
suffered the setback of the imposition of quarantine by the United Kingdom and the cancellation
of holidays by tour operators.
From that moment on, we have been busy trying to turn the situation around together
with the Government of the Canary Islands. The measures introduced include the activation
of PCR testing in home countries and on the island which is awaiting the go-ahead by
the European Union and which we hope to have achieved by the last week in September. In
addition, the Government of the Canary Islands offers a health policy so that anyone wishing
to spend a few days on the island, as well as their family members, can rest assured that
all their needs are covered if they catch the virus, both in medical terms and in quarantine
costs.
We have also made full use of the Tourist Board’s powerful network of collaborators abroad,
as we strive to convince and encourage tourists from inbound countries that a visit to Gran
Canaria is a safe experience from a healthcare point of view. On the other hand, the Cabildo
de Gran Canaria has sufficient resources to support any health initiative that proves to be
effective on our territory.
“We have effective protocols and were are
ready to welcome everyone who wishes to
come and enjoy a dream holiday on the island”
Gran Canaria also has an important healthcare infrastructure and preventive protocols
at each of its hotel complexes. Will this provide a greater safety guarantee for everyone
choosing this destination?
Absolutely. Everyone choosing this destination can rest assured that they are in one of the
safest and most protected spaces, on all levels, on the continent. At the Tourist Board we
have been working right from the start on an industry-wide protocol that will, in the first
instance, prevent the onset of new cases, and in event they were to spring up, identify them
at an early stage and isolate them in order to keep the situation under control. We have
supported diplomatic negotiations and will continue to foster the quality relationships afforded
by our links on social media that the Tourist Board has forged over many years, in
order to keep growing. We have some highly devoted and supportive businesspeople who
have contributed a great deal, and who have even committed to having tests carried out at
their establishments. Both national and foreign tourists have the health insurance I mentioned
just now, which covers all healthcare, repatriation and extended stay costs in the
event they need to undergo a period of quarantine.
It is important to point out that these protocols, tested and approved by the leading authorities
at the World Tourism Organisation, and which we apply to tourist areas, have proven
to be effective and have produced spectacular results.
What message could be sent out to tourists from Gran Canaria’s main visitor countries?
A positive one. We know that the tourism industry all over the world is immersed in a delicate
situation, but localised spikes are being controlled at the moment and continue to
allow us to proclaim to the world that we are a fully safe territory. Over these months we
have learned that nobody is free from the spread of the coronavirus, the important thing
is how it is dealt with and we consider that few places offer such safe conditions as we do
right now.
Hospitals are still far from reaching saturation point and huge efforts are being made by
different administrations with the aim of containing the contagion spikes that have occurred
on our island. We are one of the territories in Spain with the greatest number of staff
involved in tracing, with 158 tracers, together with the hard work of the first aid teams at
healthcare centres.
We are currently facing a complex scenario with a lot of uncertainty, but our greatest efforts
are going into raising awareness among the local population as to how much is at stake
in both healthcare and the economy. With all this we can claim that correct measures are
being taken and we are convinced that this winter we are going to be the top destination
for an idyllic holiday, with our visitors having absolutely no cause for concern, as we have
been all this year and throughout our history. We have effective protocols and we are ready
to welcome everyone wishing to come and enjoy a dream holiday on the island.