Carlos Alonso has been recently elected as the new President of the Council of Tenerife (Cabildo), following thevoluntary resignation of his predecessor Ricardo Melchior. This is the very first time that a president leaves voluntarily this position. From 16th September, Carlos Alonso occupies the highest post in the island’s Government, whose political party won the 2011 elections.  

Carlos Alonso will remain as the Tenerife’s Tourism Councillor – a post he has been occupying for the last two years.  In his new role Alonso has outlined his priorities as “employment, investments to stimulate the economy and the improvement of the island’s services.”

Ricardo Melchior commented on his successor: “Carlos is a young qualified person with all the necessary skills to think about Tenerife from a strategic point of view. He’s got what is needed to continue the fruitful team work that started some time ago in areas such as research, development, competitiveness, quality and, especially, on social issues.”

With regards to tourim, Carlos Alonso will focus on improving the island’s connectivity. Last year, the work undertaken by the Tenerife Tourism Corporation saw the launch of 36 new direct routes, the opening of two new aircraft bases for Norwegian and Vueling Airlines and the creation of over a million additional seats. The Tenerife Tourism Corporation’s work was recognised by the European Routes Awards this year, where it scooped the Destination Marketing award for its outstanding marketing efforts.

Other priorities of the new Council will be to maintain the leadership of Tenerife’s biggest source markets (including the UK, Spain, Germany, France and Russia), to reinforce the prospective markets with a stable growth (Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, the Baltic States and Israel) and to invest in emerging markets with growth expectation (USA, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, India and China). These measures will be carried out together with the improvement of the tourism sector, the revitalisation of strategic areas (such as Puerto de la Cruz and the south) and the enhancement of the Tenerife brand.

-Ends-

Notes for Editors:

1. The Tenerife Tourism Corporation is a membership led independent body, supported by the public and private sectors, which markets Tenerife overseas as a tourist destination.

2. For general tourism information on Tenerife please visit: www.webtenerife.co.uk

3. For media enquiries, please contact Richard Hume at Hume Whitehead: richard@humewhitehead.co.uk / 0845 498 9981.