Attractions Tenerife

The “Denominación de Orígen” (Denomination of Origin) or “DO” the Spanish government applies to wines and other products are the equivalent of the French AOC and the Italian DOC certifications. The entities responsible for ensuring the use of grapes of the authorized varieties, approved methods of wine making and ageing times among other parameters are the “Consejos Reguladores” (Governing Bodies). The Governing Body of the DO “Ycoden Daute Isora” from the autonomous community of the Canary Islands has announced their verdict about the 2009 vintage wines, qualifying it as “excellent” after evaluating 390,000 litres of wine from the region located in Tenerife Island.

The higher percentage of qualified wines belonged to white wines which are the most common variety produced in this shire using grapes such as “listán blanco”, “marmajuelo”, “gual”, “malvasía blanca” and “verdello”.

The Governing Body also highlighted the quality of the red wine grapes, specially the “negramoll”, “tintilla” and “baboso negor” varieties, which produce wines that are very popular among consumers. The entity explained that one of the reasons for having such a wonderful vintage was the optimums sanitary conditions of the grapes at the moment of the harvest that allowed the production of excellent wines.

Of course, the Governing Body of the DO “Ycoden Daute Isora” explained that it is the expertise of the wineries that allowed the production of such quality wines. They acknowledged the effort of the wineries to modernize their facilities and increase the levels of technology in the process of wine production. For that reason, the vintage wines from “Ycoden Dute Isora” maintain the essence of their heritage combined with state-of-the-art technologies.

After these results, the governing Body has insisted in the need of promoting the consumption of the quality vintage wines from Tenerife that nowadays have difficulties in their insertion in the market. “It is the only way to obtain the necessary profitability for the wine-growers to continue the wine production”.

From last Monday to August 31st, it will be celebrated in the municipality of Tegueste (Tenerife) the Gastronomic Show that will count with the participation of 16 taverns and restaurants of the region having sweet potatoes as main ingredient for the varied dished these establishments will present. This show is organized in the framework of the Local Gastronomy Shows of Tenerife, which is an initiative developed by the Council of Tenerife within the dynamizing plan of the tourist products of the island. The project includes the organization of eight gastronomic shows from August to December in different regions of the island.

The municipality of Tegueste will head this event hosting from 16th to 31st of August the gastronomic show, which will count with the participation of 16 taverns and restaurants of the province that will present different dishes having sweet potatoes as main ingredient. The main objective of these shows is to get the local gastronomy known among tourists and turn it into part of the tourist identity of the island.

The taverns and restaurants that participate of this show are divided in five areas: the first area covers “El Portezuelo” town with six establishments (Restaurante El Nervioso, Restaurante El Tema, Bar Azoca, Restaurante Abuelo Pepe, Restaurante El Parralito and Tasca Tío Pedro). The second area is located in “El Socorro” town and includes three restaurants (Casa Mi Suegra, San Gonzalo and Tasca Damián y Angélica). The third area includes “San Luis” and “Las Toscas” towns with two establishments (Tasca Verode and Bar La Arrancadilla). The fourth area is located in the old town including five restaurants (El Gamonal, Café de Pedro, Tasca El Rincón de Tino and la Tasca La Hoya del Moral); finally, the fifth area is located in the “Pedro Álvarez” town with one restaurant (Donde Rocha).

All the establishments will present sweet potatoes as main ingredient of this gastronomic show because this vegetable represents the food produced in Teguise. During this fair, all restaurants will include a dish in their menus made using this vegetable as main ingredient. The way to present sweet potatoes will depend on each restaurant’s preference. The vegetable may be presented as appetizer, first or second dish and also as a dessert.

This gastronomic fair will also include a “cooking show” that will be presented at the “Mercadillo del Agricultor y del Artesano” (farmers and craftsmen marketplace) next August 22nd from 11:30 a.m. to 13:30 p.m. The renowned chef Javier Mora from the Vincci La Plantación del Sur Hotel will make several dishes and will give a class using innovative recipes, all of them including sweet potato as main ingredient.

On the other hand, José Carlos Marrero, Tenerife’s Gastronomy Plan coordinator, said that “local gastronomy is one of the five first reasons for a tourist to choose a particular destination, and this is why this project is relevant for the tourist offer of the island”.

The popular Spanish artist will give a concert next 28th of August at the Adeje’s Football Field in Tenerife, where fans will be able to enjoy his music which will include some “classic” songs and material form his new album.

The concert, one of the most important music events of this summer in the Canary Islands, is part of Alejandro Sanz’s “Paraiso” tour. It has been six years since the last concert of this musician in the archipelago. This time the renowned artist will bring a new spectacular show accompanied by nine musicians in his band under the direction of Mike Ciro.

Luis Pastor, who is a renowned music shows’ producer will be in charge of the staging. For Sanz’s “Paraiso” tour, Pastor has created an innovative and dynamic stage with 28 engines that turn the stage in a “living structure” that changes according to the song. These engines move a 140 square meters state-of-the-art led screen which makes the stage display different optic dimensions reinforced with 100,000 watts lightings.

Alejandro Sanz will give more than thirty concerts in Spain during his tour which has been divided in two stages – from May to the end of June, and from the end of August to October. The second stage of the tour begins with a concert next 24th of August in Lanzarote, continuing on August 26th in Las Palmas and the 28th of August in Tenerife.

This Spaniard composer that has sold more than 12 million copies of his albums worldwide and he has said that he is happy to return to the Canary Islands and meet his fans who have shown their support and affection in previous concerts.

The “Paraiso” tour includes material form his new album called “Paraiso Express” and some of his renowned songs such as “Corazón partío”. Each song will be presented with a spectacular visual staging to turn the show in a unique and unforgettable experience.

Alejandro Sanz will arrive to the Archipelago in few days after finishing his tour in Latin America with a concert in Puerto Rico.

The concert next 28th of August in Tenerife is presented by the Council of Adeje, and it counts with the sponsorship of Heineken and the collaboration of the Culture Department of the Canary Islands Government, the Council of Tenerife, Grupo Número 1, Hyundai, Ceteca, Havana Club, Kursev, Cajacanarias, Iberostar, 40 Principales and Fred Olsen, official transporter of LM Productions which is the promoter of this event in the island.

From last Wednesday is opened the exhibition “Islands of the World” at the “Castillo Espacio Cultural”, which turns the municipality of Puerto de la Cruz in the new venue for this exceptional photography show. The exhibition will be opened until September 3rd, presenting the winners of the International Photography Competition “Septenio 2010”. This is the second edition of the contest the Government of Canary Islands organizes in the framework of a cultural promotion program. This year 516 photographers from all over the world participated in this competition.
The winners of the photography contest were Tomás Correa (Gran Canaria), Carlos Chavarría (Madrid) who receive the first and second place respectively in the photography series category; Francisco Javier Martí (Valencia), Francisco Javier Jiménez (Sevilla) and Alexander Mendelevich (Israel) winners in the individual photography category.

The art gallery will be exhibiting the work of the awarded photographers as well as the work of other photographers who also received mentions (32 pictures). The exhibition is completed with about 40 pictures taken by eight local photographers representing each island of the archipelago who present their personal view of the most amazing corners of the islands. These photographers are: José Oller (Tenerife), Ángel Gómez Pinchetti (Gran Canaria), Flavio Rocha (El Hierro), Manuel Fuentes (La Gomera), Sonia Herrera (Lanzarote), Carlos de Saa (Fuerteventura), Félix Capote (La Palma) and Manuel Pallares (Hinijo archipelago).

After being exhibited in Tenerife, the show will be presented from September 9th to Septemebr 30th at the “Casa Salazar” in Santa Cruz de La Palma, and in October, it will be exhibited in Fuerteventua.

The Tourism Department of the Canary government has released a new promotional campaign to attract tourists from Canada together will the Canadian tourist operator “Total Vacations” through an agreement intended to make Canada a new tourists issuing market.

The Tourism department states on a press release that the archipelago will have its own catalogue and will be promoted in several workshops for tourism professionals, having in mind the study of a direct air flight connection to this country.

The tourist offer the Canary government has developed is focused in the next winter season, providing regular flights from Madrid, Barcelona and London to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma, as well as several travel packages that include visits to more than one island.

Besides, an e-mail campaign is under way to reach potential clients through the Canadian tourist operator. This campaign started last 14th of June, and it will end on January 14th, 2011. On the other hand, Total Vacations’ website has included a banner of the Canary Islands which will be displayed till June 13th 2011. Finally, the Travel Courier magazine, focused on tourism professionals, will provide information about the hospitality and services offer in the archipelago.

During September, an exclusive promotional campaign will be launched for Visa clients offering travel packages to the Canary Islands.

Total Vacations will also show advertising posters in their offices and will organize presentations of the Canary Islands as tourist destination throughout Canada in 14 different cities, being the most important event the one that will be celebrated in Toronto next 20th of September, when the Canary Islands will be presented as part of the new 2010-2011 catalogue.

The “Botánico”, “Riu Garoé” and “Tigaiga” from Puerto de la Cruz are among the 100 best hotels in the world according to a survey made by the tourist operator TUI among guests of more than 10,000 registered hotels.
The manager of the Tigaiga Hotel, Enrique Talg, said that the hotel has been awarded sixteen times during the seventeen editions of the survey the TUI group has conducted. He said that “this is an incentive for all the hospitality community in Puerto de la Cruz to work harder and provide a quality service to increase the number of hotels from Tenerife to be awarded next time”.

The director of the RIU Hotel, Cándido Figueroa, highlighted that “our hotel has won this award seven consecutive years thanks to the professionalism of our staff that deserve this award and my congratulations for their effort. Certainly, they are the cornerstone of our hospitality business. The other two cornerstones for the success of our hotel are the maintenance plan we have and the customer’s satisfaction rates we obtain which make our clients come back 78 to 100 percent of the time”. He added that “to obtain the Holly award is a benefit that allows us to market our hotel to thousands of clients around the world”.
The ranking showed that the Canary Islands are the second favorite destination for German Tourists after Turkey.

The director of the Oriental Spa Garden Botanic Hotel, Patricio Feier, said that this award provides a great opportunity for the hospitality businesses in the Puerto de la Cruz, and in Tenerife Island. “This award is not only an acknowledgement for us at a national level; it also means an international acknowledgement like the Oscar awards are for the films industry”.

Turkey is heading the list of the best hotels in the world, followed by the Canary Islands with 19 hotels, while Italy only counts with two hotels included in this list.

Next 28th of October, the awarded hotels in Puerto de la Cruz will know if they are among the 10 best hotels in the world.

The councilwoman of Tourism to the Council of Puerto de la Cruz said that “we have to be proud of our hospitality industry for being among the 100 best hotels in the world, especially in these days of economic crisis”.

“Turismo de Tenerife”, a public entity in charge of the tourist promotion of the island, is launching a series of advertising spots in the northern European countries, being the main one the promotional campaign the travel magazine “Zine Travel” will present in Norway, in association with the tourist operator TUI Nordic to promote the tourist offer of the island through interviews about it.

The agreement with “Zine Travel” began in December 2009, and will continue until October 2010. The campaign will be based in promotional interviews to present the tourist offer of the island. One of these interviews will be included in the January edition, coinciding with the Reiseliv fair, and the other interviews will be dedicated to the luxury tourist offer the island provides. In addition to this, the magazine has made an article about Tenerife which was read by more than 2 million people.

Tenerife, one of the islands of the Canary archipelago, received last year about 400,000 tourists from northern Europe, and for that reason, the Tourism Department of the Council of Tenerife has invested time and money to develop promotional campaigns to attract even more tourists from these countries.