Yesterday the British press once again misrepresented Lanzarote, when the Daily Express published an article with the misleading headline “Spanish hotspot Lanzarote to limit British tourists as island bosses say it’s ‘saturated’”. The Mail Online reported “Lanzarote says it is fed up with having so many British tourists visiting the island – and wants FEWER UK tourists.”.
There is no plan to limit British tourists. The articles were based on a recent speech by Cabildo President María Dolores Corujo at the FITUR travel fair. Corujo did not claim the island was “fed up” with British tourists, nor did she mention any plans to limit them, because there are none. Instead, she said the island should be regarded as a “tourist saturated zone” and outlined the island’s tourism plan, which has been known for several years.
One part of the tourist plan is to reduce mass tourism and attract fewer,wealthier tourists. This is already happening – Lanzarote had fewer tourists last year than it did in the last “normal” year of 2019, but it made more money.
A second part of the plan is to reduce reliance on the British market, which supplies over 50% of Lanzarote’s tourism, by attracting other nationalities.
There is a strategy to reduce tourism overall and to diversify source markets, but no plan whatsoever to limit tourists because they are British.
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