jogger321

..From one of the local papers

Señoras y Señores, Ladies and Gentlemen,

So, we have finally reached the crisis point that we all knew was coming for the past five years. For yet another year almost every public sector business has recorded a fall in profits, apart from international hoteliers. This should come as no surprise.

The people currently in charge of the tourism boroughs are incapable of doing their jobs, as they are completely out of touch with reality. Leaving their heads in the clouds and hoping that things will improve is no longer a viable option - we need to take action! As a result of bad management the inevitable has finally come to us. We shouldn’t panic, but work out what went wrong and why, and then work out what to do about it.

About seven years ago, the tourist trade in Tenerife peaked. As models show, when a destination begins to level off it has two options. One is to melt away into oblivion, a sort of take the money and run tactic. The other is to rejuvenate, which for the coming years should be the Island’s ‘buzz’ word.

At the turn of the new millennium the first thing that should have happened was to cut down the number of annual new developments by 95%, mainly accommodation developments. This means that all hotels and apartment complexes will continue to keep a steady level of visitors in the short-term.

What Tenerife actually did was hand out numerous building contracts to lucrative international hoteliers to continue building, up the coast, rather than persuading them to rejuvenate the existing ones, to keep standards high. This has proved to be costly for local businesses as the tourists that were concentrated into a smaller area are now spread thin. While it is too late to get rid of the new hotels it would be possible to place an express form of regular 24-hour transport (i.e. a tram or train) into the more central areas where the long established local businesses are.

With regards to these local businesses, they need to be kept up to a high standard, to keep a perception of value for customers. What Tenerife actually did was ignore the centres that were already in place and successful, and begin building smarter more modern centres. This has proved to be costly, as there are now so many places to go that it is almost impossible to fill any bars or restaurants. This does no one any good. Investors should be brought in to help the centres that are really struggling, rather than allowing them to build new sites.

Before all of the new development took place, it was already proven that it was not physically possible to get enough plane passengers onto the Island to fill the number of beds available. It should have therefore been at the forefront of everybody’s minds to get the second runway at Reina Sofia airport built as soon as possible. This was not done and will not be completed until at least 2012, which is simply unacceptable, and needs to be completed as soon as possible.

With regards to flight costs. We need to compete better with short-haul destinations, such as Benidom and the rest of the Mediterranean. Without this, Tenerife will always lose millions of tourists a year because of cheaper options to similar destinations. Reaching agreements with a number of low-cost airlines so as not to let prices rise above a certain figure, perhaps using subsidies, could do this.

The biggest issue that needs tackling is that of the all-inclusive offer. This type of holiday is killing the island! It is costing millions in revenue and attracts no extra people. It is almost immoral! To state that the all-inclusive offer is not affecting the Island shows just how out of touch with reality these experts really are.

In destinations like the Caribbean and Egypt, it is perhaps a necessity to have a sort of fortress around you because if you leave it you could be mugged, raped or murdered. In a western society like this it is simply not needed, and does nothing but make the streets and local businesses quieter.

If you wanted an all-inclusive holiday you would go to a luscious white beach in Trinidad or Tobago for the same price. To identify the likes of these places as competition is ludicrous. We compete with the Mediterranean, not the Caribbean. Ashotel should be forced, by legislation, to make all-inclusive offers illegal, not more common as Mr Burling of TUI would so stupidly suggest!

Lets get more people here, lets get them here cheaper, lets get them back out of the hotels, lets get local businesses back to their best and lets do it all before its too late!

JAnot

Wonderful idea - I assume the newspaper goes on to say how.

obs

Sorry JAnot, I read the same article, and no it does not.

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JAnot

Well, I'm not impressed - any idiot can complain about a situation, but without a constructive suggestion it is bad journalism.

jogger321

Shall we start with our own virtual "Constructive suggestions/comments" then?

My own for starters ..okay and I know its an old chestnut but I honestly do know people who vowed never to return because it ruined their holiday...BAN ALL THE TOUTS FLOGGING TIMESHARE/HOLIDAY CLUB (but let them operate from discreet premises if they want to)

Janet

Yep agree with that one. Mine is get the PRs off the streets and let people feel they can walk around and choose where they want to eat and drink rather than be hassled. This stops people walking around freely in the first place.

Muppet

So many things that could be done.

Even without giving it too much thought, here's a few for starters.

1. Stop all new "tourist bed" building contracts now - and insist that any underway are completed within, say, 12 months.

2. On the back of the above, introduce more stringent standards on the quality of what is already here, and at the same time insist on those currently closed for "renovations" are either completed or even pulled down.

3. Introduce a licensing system for "all inclusive" - this should a) restrict the numbers as a percentage of the total beds and introduce a tax on those all inclusives which is significant enough to hold the development and put the proceeds of the tax back into the local infrastructure - perhaps as grants for No2.

I'm sure there is more!

As someone once said - Tenerife will be nice when it's finished!

Rolzysmum

I agree these people are a pain in the proverbial, but I'm sure Tenerife is even more popular with tourists here in the south. Bournemouth airport has started even more flights on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays!
We have only once taken a flight which was not full too capacity and that was in March, a time when many people may not want to holiday.

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I want it all - and I want it NOW!!!

Sal

aquayle

The way Egypt manages to promote diving is miraculous. About 20,000 people dive every day in the red sea. The Government & tour operators are working together (read that every way you want) to promote diving in egypt as a cheap & good thing. Imagine the diving industry in the Canaries if the Government took half the notice that the Egyptian Government does!
[/soap box mode off/]
But no-one [in a postion of power] is going to read/get these comments anyway, unless someone crashses the ABTA conference (hint)

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irishmusico

Make all the taxi fares,supplements etc transparent,the meters tamper proof and an easy system to complain to,if anyone feels they have been ripped off. ie instructions in several languages,directions to the complaints office,customer rights printed on a poster in the cab that is easy to understand.