Low-spending British tourists travelling to Lanzarote are a poorer quality to holidaying Germans, according to the Canary island’s president.
Maria Dolores Corujo has said the country relies too heavily on holidaymakers from the UK.
Corujo claims Germany offers “higher-quality tourism” in comparison to Britain, but her comments have been criticised by some on the popular island as “badly advised”.
British holidaymakers account for nearly half of all tourists to Lanzarote, but Corujo wants to see more people travelling from other European countries.
Lanzarote president Maria Dolores Corujo
Speaking at a tourism fair to promote Lanzarote in Berlin, Corujo said: “It’s essential to work on the diversification of the sector and the growth of markets like the German market, which adapt to our intentions of aiming at higher-quality tourism and holidaymakers who spend more when they’re here and moves us away from mass tourism.”
She has also previously expressed a desire to change the island’s approach to tourism, wanting to see more tourists “with greater spending in the destination.”
She wants to diversify “to reduce the dependence on the British market.”
Carujo told the conference: “We are going to continue to promote the debate on the limits to growth even though they try to gag us with the ghost of fear of damage to the image of Lanzarote.”
Lanzarote has always proved a popular holiday destination for Brits
Wikimedia Commons
Her comments have been criticised amongst the travel industry on the island, with some saying they government should be spending more to attract tourists to spend more.
President of the Federation of Hoteliers in Las Palmas in Lanzarote, José Maria Mañaricúa, told iNews: “Any business wants to improve its income. But to do this, you have to give a clear objective to improve public infrastructure, improve beach services, with services which make [a place] stand out from other areas of Spain like the Balearic Islands and Andalusia.”
Francisco Martinez, vice-president of Lanzarote’s Island Association of Hotels and Apartments, agreed, telling The Independent the political leader’s comments were “badly advised”.
There are no details on how the country plans to keep British tourists away from the island.
More than two million tourists flocked to Lanzarote in 2022
PA
Lanzarote is a much-loved and popular holiday choice for Britons, offering warm temperatures and sandy beaches.
But the council on the island have said it's a "tourist-saturated area."
The Canary island has a population of just 151,000 people, a stark contrast to the reported 2.8 million holidaymakers who travelled to the country in 2022.
Figures also show that despite Brits making up nearly half of all tourists, they spend less than most other European travellers in the country.
