By Pedro Martin, President of the Cabildo of Tenerife.
Tenerife will become for a few days the central point of the debate on the tourism and aviation industry, thanks to the meeting of all Europe in this field: the Aviation-Event Tenerife 2021. A meeting that is being held for the first time outside the usual circuit of European capitals in which it has been taking place until now, which for the island makes it even more special and relevant.
The meeting, in which we have been working for many months, and which included the celebration on the island of the preparatory meeting of the members of the Supervisory Board of Aviation-Event during the month of March, will have the participation of senior representatives of the aviation industry and institutions from across the continent and beyond, from airlines, airports and organizations, to relevant political leaders: Henrik Hololei, Director General of Mobility and Transport of the European Commission; Juan Fernando López Aguilar, president of the Commission for Civil Liberties, Justice and the Interior of the European Parliament; Rafael Echevarne, Director General of Airports Council International for Latin America and the Caribbean (ACI-LAC); Raimonds Gruntins, Director of Regional Affairs at IATA, Aureliano Cicala, Director General of MSC Cruises; Lenka Vikva, owner of Smarwings and Canary Travel tour operator; Flor Díaz Pulido, head of the Aviation Unit of the European Commission; and Valter Fernandes, CEO of TAP Express, among other relevant authorities and personalities.
And it comes at a crucial, key moment. Because it means the beginning of the recovery of tourism and the aviation, when the vaccination campaigns of the population are reaching considerable levels in Europe and the main restrictions on the mobility of travelers have also begun to be lifted. Unmistakable signs that the long-awaited recovery is here and is real, as long as there are no new unforeseen events that alter that trend.
Of course, we are completely sure that this relevant event on 11 June 2021 in Tenerife, will generate an interesting debate that will allow us to lay the foundations for a new era now that the pandemic that disrupted our lives to limits that we could have never imagined is being left behind. From now on, the road already looks much more hopeful.
Tenerife will be the place that will mark that restart for the tourism and aviation industries, and where the island also plays a very prominent role, both for being a top-level tourist destination in Europe and for its undoubted place in air connectivity, something that is key to the tourism development that it enjoys. The island thus claims a relevant position, neither more nor less than it deserves, in this scenario, both now and in the future.