Businessman Ángel Rivero stated on Thursday that an ecotax , if implemented, would not harm southern Gran Canaria, provided it doesn't negatively impact demand or the destination's image, and that the revenue is reinvested in the municipality. "I don't think it should be a problem," he said.
Rivero was forceful against the atrophied business of vacation homes in tourist areas because it breaks the spirit of market unity established by the Canary Islands Tourism law. Rivero made this consideration as a speaker at a tourism forum with the presence of Manuel Gruñeiro Rubín De Celix, director of Expansión Be Cordial Hotels & Resorts; Águeda Borges, vice president of FEHT and board member of RIU; Pablo Llinares, managing director of the Gran Canaria Tourism Board; José Daniel Alba and general director of Lopesan Hotel, organized by Spark Innovation Sphere Les Roches.
On the other hand, Booking Holdings said this Thursday that it does not rule out leaving the European Union due to the "silly" regulatory obstacles that are placing the company at a "competitive disadvantage," according to its CEO, Glenn Fogel. Fogel thus attacks the new EU digital rules that require hotels to be allowed to offer lower prices on their own websites than on the online travel platform, reports the Financial Times.
The manager believes that we must "offer customers the best prices" and that any regulation that prohibits doing that is a "silly regulation," according to the aforementioned media. In February, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) proposed a sanction of 486 million euros for Booking after accusing it of abuse of a dominant position due to the price restrictions that the platform imposes on Canarian hotels.
