The Canary Islands Government’s Minister of Tourism and Employment, Jessica de León, and the Director of the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), José Joaquín Hernández Brito, held a meeting at PLOCAN’s shore-based headquarters to analyse potential synergies and collaborative projects to drive scientific tourism and the blue economy in the Canary Islands.
During the meeting, they discussed the opportunity to integrate scientific activity into the Canary Islands’ tourism packages. The proposal is to define new marine tourism experiences, offering visitors the chance to take part in actions that deliver direct benefits for society, the environment, and science.
Both institutions will explore the possibility of moving forward together toward a competitive tourism offering, where PLOCAN’s marine research and expertise can become added value for visitors and a regenerative driver for the Canary Islands’ natural environments. This alignment will make it possible to design innovative, sustainable, and responsible tourism projects, in line with European trends and the blue growth strategy.
In the words of José Joaquín Hernández Brito: “PLOCAN aims to drive the transformation of the tourism sector, innovation, and the development of new technologies capable of generating new tourism products and services in the Canary Islands and exporting them internationally. In this regard, the collaborative work we are proposing to the Minister of Tourism will enable the development of new initiatives, as well as collaboration with the private sector.”
In this way, tourism would also fulfil an educational, environmental, and social role, contributing to citizens’ well-being and to ocean conservation, with a firm commitment to innovation, knowledge, and sustainability.
