Lanzarote takes a decisive step in evolving its tourism model with the presentation of the first SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote 2026-2030 Master Plan. This strategic document will set the entity's priorities for the coming years, placing sustainability, competitiveness, tourism intelligence, and citizen well-being among the destination's main objectives.
The presentation, held at the Arrecife Gran Hotel, brought together institutional representatives, tourism professionals, and agents linked to the island's economic activity. The Master Plan, developed over eighteen months with the collaboration of the consultancy firm Sien Consulting, establishes six major strategic lines: sustainability and regenerative tourism, tourism governance, tourism marketing and promotion, tourism diversification, tourism intelligence and digitalization, and tourism competitiveness and offering.
The president of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, Oswaldo Betancort García, valued the presentation as a strategic advancement. "Lanzarote and La Graciosa need a tourism policy that looks beyond visitor numbers and places the quality of life of our people at its center," stated Betancort, emphasizing that "the future of Lanzarote is not about indefinite growth, but about better managing our resources, strengthening our competitiveness, and ensuring that tourism remains an opportunity for progress and well-being for those of us who live here".
For his part, the CEO of SPEL-Turismo Lanzarote, Héctor Fernández, highlighted the importance of having this strategic planning to guide the entity's decisions and consolidate a shared vision for the island's tourism future. "We are presenting an ambitious, yet responsible, document, given the current tourism context, which requires destinations to develop planning with a significant level of governance," noted Fernández, explaining that the plan will allow for setting priorities and coordinating actions with a medium-term vision.
Mariano Torres, CEO of Sien Consulting, explained that the plan incorporates actions already underway and aims to integrate initiatives into strategic lines. "This plan starts with many important actions already in progress. Our work has consisted of establishing a diagnostic framework, involving the participation of entrepreneurs, the public sector, and civil society, and fitting all these initiatives into strategic lines, complementing them with new actions," he stated.
José Manuel Sanabria Díaz, Vice-Minister of Tourism for the Government of the Canary Islands, positively assessed the initiative and its alignment with regional policies, highlighting the importance of qualitative indicators, governance, citizen participation, and the use of information for decision-making.
Isabel Aguirrezabala, Managing Director of San Sebastián Turismo – Donostia Turismoa, S.A., shared the experience of San Sebastián, focusing on coexistence between visitors and residents. "We are at a key moment that represents a shift from promotion, without forgetting it, towards destination management," she explained, advocating that tourism policy should be integrated into the territory's overall strategy, placing resident population at the center of decisions.
