Canary Islands Unveil Innovative Platform to Measure Tourism's Social Impact

Canarias Avanza is a diagnostic tool that invites participation to discover how citizens perceive tourism and to measure its social impact across the islands. The Tourism and Employment Department, through the public company Gesprotur, is promoting this participatory digital platform, which includes a questionnaire and a Strategic Meeting with professionals and administrations to produce a Social Sustainability Manual for Tourism in the archipelago.

The Tourism and Employment Department of the Canary Islands Government, via the public company Gesprotur, has launched “Canarias Avanza: Tourism and Social Sustainability,” an innovative project funded by the EU NextGenerationEU funds that will enable the measurement and improvement of tourism’s social sustainability throughout the archipelago.

The main goal is to create a participatory digital platform that allows tourism companies, public administrations, sector professionals, residents, and visitors to assess their level of social sustainability through specialized questionnaires. The tool aims to gather key data to analyze tourism’s social impact in the islands and to shape future strategies.

“It’s essential to know how citizens perceive tourism”

“We want tourism that generates prosperity, but also cohesion and quality of life. This tool will let us actively listen to Canary society and, together, build a model that reflects our values and our understanding of development,” explained Jessica de León, Minister of Tourism and Employment.

The information and contributions collected will enable the preparation of sectoral and territorial diagnoses that will feed into the project’s overall report. Based on these results, practical recommendations will be formulated, the Good Practices Manual will be updated, and tourism policies will be steered toward greater fairness and sustainability in the Canary Islands, according to Ignacio Solana, CEO of Gesprotur, in an official statement.

“In Canarias Avanza we place people at the centre of our policies. Knowing how citizens perceive tourism is fundamental, because this insight allows us to evaluate the real impact of our actions and fine‑tune the destination‑promotion strategy with greater precision,” Solana added.

Citizen Participation for the Social Sustainability of Tourism in the Archipelago

Gesprotur encourages citizens, the tourism sector, and public administrations to take part in this participatory process, which seeks to gather diverse perspectives to define the future of tourism in the Canary Islands. Participation can be done through the website www.canariasavanza.com, where users can complete an intuitive questionnaire on the sector’s social perception and register for the upcoming Strategic Meeting scheduled for 30 October.

Meeting to Draft a Social Sustainability Manual for Tourism

The Strategic Meeting of Canarias Avanza will take place on Thursday, 30 October, at the Bandama Hall of INFECAR (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), from 09:00 to 19:00.

• Attendance is open to professionals, companies, and administrations that register in advance.
• The event will provide a space for debate and co‑creation on tourism’s social impact across the archipelago.
• It will be streamed live on the Canarias Avanza YouTube channel.

These initiatives aim to embed social sustainability at the core of tourism development in the Canary Islands.