Economic Concerns, an interview in La Provincia

Eduard Van Der Veen is the President of AECA, the association of Businesses of El Castillo. In an interview published in La Provincia, he discusses his concerns for the future of Fuerteventura in the current economic crisis.

This is a translation of the interview.

How is the tourism sector facing up to the current economic situation?

With an enormous uncertainty. Faced with this situation I have observed that in the sector there is no unity, there is no cohesion of ideas, the collaboration with the islands institutions is limited, and in some cases is non-existent. There are no business plans or particular emergency plan to face up to the situation which we are suffering. The businesses and the population in general are worried by the news that has appeared in the last month, but especially the small and medium businesses are yet more worried with the problems that we have with the banks.

What are the principal problems that affect the turism sector of the Municipality of Antigua?

The changes that are developing in in the tourists that previously stayed in apartments and now stay in hotels that are all inclusive. We also worry about the loss of tourist places that are converting into residential complexes, although in the business sector we believe that the change in government in the Ayuntamiento in the last couple of years have not made possible a strategic plan for the tourist areas. The channels of communication are few and sometimes non-existent and if we add to that the thousands of tourists that arrive at the island by means of the low cost airlines and come to stay in El Castillo, then one can imagine the double worry that we feel with the current situation.

The cutting of seats after the announcement of withdrawal of the low cost airlines, what does this mean for the sector on the island?

Total Ruin. If we now find ourselves at the limit, I do not want to imagine what will happen after the departure of these airline companies. Our island now lives completely by tourism and the decision of the airlines means the disappearance of some two million hotel stays which will affect many direct and indirect jobs. Our assosiation has already forecast that the economic repercussions will reach some 200 millions of euros. Due to this, I believe that we have to all react together to take our island forward.

This situation could mean a serious setback for the island's economy. Has an adequate response been made by the island's institutions.

The Cabildo, with Mario Cabrera at its head, was the first to commit to / to go for the cheap flight. Now, because of this general apathy we are going to lose everything. The forecasts are catastrophic and the islands economy could fall into a serious crisis of unforseeable dimensions. Faced with this, I am very surprised that the many of the business associations, on the fringes of the small and medium sized businesses, as well as many individual businessmen are not worried by the situation we are in. I do not understand it.

About the plans to regenerate the beach in El Castillo, this has been spoken about for many years, yet it has not materialised. Are you disillusioned?

Disillusioned is an understatement when defining the mood of the tourist sector. The give me the impression that our fight and our work has served for nothing and we are convinced the plans to regenerate our beach have not yet been carried out due to political positions and clashes.

What are the predictions for next summer? Do the promotions that have happened abroad serve a purpose?

Worrying. Our economic indicators show a fall of around 18% in places from the English market and 20% from Germany.With these figures we are going to be working in some places with an important reduction in customers. With respect to your question about the promotion campaigns, i believe that any promotion is good, even though in certain cases they are not in the best places to promote tourism. What is lacking is unity in the promotion to sell the image of Fuerteventura in a coordinated way. I also believe that we are lacking initiatives, such as the communication between businesses.

Why this public call through the media?

Faced with the current situation, which will cause many businesses to suffer, it is necessary to inform all sectors of the population on the island of the consequences which we will have if we do not act. We would like a debate to be generated about the way to develop initiatives in the face of the current economic recession. The main economic engine of Fuerteventura is tourism, and in my view, all of us have to change direction, from the public institutions, associations, businesses, residents and banks. Above all we have to make sure that the planes continue to arrive with tourists at least at the same level as they have up to now.

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