As the supposed deadline for Brexit approaches, uncertainty has not stopped growing. Despite this, Turespaña, the main Spanish Tourism Board, have said that it expects “constant growth in the British market.” The general director of the public body, part of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Hector Gomez, himself Canarian, said at the beginning of March that their outlook is that British tourist spending in Spain, as a whole, will increase by 3%. Of course, he warned that talking about Brexit at this moment in time is still “talking about permanent uncertainty” and thus, “it is difficult to discern or guess what may happen”.
Gómez stressed that the national Executive has done what they can to promote a contingency plan to take on this challenge. In it, he said, a “permanent dialogue” with airlines has been outlined. “It does not have to be a problem that affects the connectivity of Spain,” he insisted, speaking to Europa Press. The director of Turespaña said, in turn, that they will remain “vigilant” to avoid the possible impacts of Brexit to Spain, while they continue to carry out promotional and information activities within the United Kingdom.
Faced with this scenario of uncertainty, the Secretary of State for Commerce and ICEX organized a seminar entitled “La Empresa Española Ante el Brexit” (The Spanish company before Brexit) here in Las Palmas, together with the Ministry of Development, the European Commission, the Chamber of Commerce of Gran Canaria and the Canary Islands regional executive. The objective was to disseminate among the various entities possible repercussions of disconnection and the importance of preparing contingency plans to face future scenarios.
