Spirit of Fuerteventura

Knowing the importance of tourism for this lovely island one could ask himself what could there be done more to differentiate us better from other popular places. How can we increase our chances to attract more visitors and this without spending huge amounts of money? How can we improve the image of our island or even add a new item to it? In order to be able to find out we should have a look to what's on the table right now and then take it from there.

Fuerteventura is famous for its endless beaches and surf facilities. It has a wide reputation on the quality of the local goat cheese, the benefits of locally cultivated Aloe Vera and on the tranquillity of the island. But it also has some flaws in the eyes of the occasional visitor - the tourist: the beaches, although in good condition, lack sufficient garbage bins in order to comfortably be able to dispose your trash, the island lacks vegetation and some people comment that there is little culture or at least the promotion of it is not reaching the public in time.

So, here you have three major elements that might be worth looking at them closer: Beaches, Culture and Nature.

In order to keep our splendid beaches clean(er), it might be a good idea to multiply the amount of garbage bins and to increase the frequency of emptying them. There are even sand filter machines that might be used on a quarterly basis during the late evenings to get our beaches spotless. In this way one machine for the entire island would be sufficient. Can you imagine what impact this caring would have on holiday promotion tours and trade shows?

The culture of Fuerteventura is mainly of agricultural origin: goat farms, Aloe Vera plantations, tomato cultivation, and of local music with the popular Timple, the little guitar with 5 strings. The best of all comes out during the many festivities to honour local sacred patrons. Fine, but why not using this asset of many private musicians to create a Folkloristic performance on markets during the busiest holiday period of the year? The successful initiative of El Campanario in Corralejo on Sundays to join local art & craft with Majorero music proves that it is an event in high demand. It adds significantly to the profile of Fuerteventura. Each significant tourist location on the island could organise a weekly Majorero music performance with local produce on offer.

Fuerteventura recently has received the status of Biosphere to acknowledge and to protect the natural resources. Although we respect the aim to avoid significant interference with nature, it might be a bonus to create small forests that are in or closely situated to villages and form a kind of oasis. Some popular villages really do lack green areas. It might be beneficial to create them so that residents and tourists can rest in the shade, especially during summer.

Another opportunity is to offer the greatest show of all to our guests: the unforgettable experience of looking at our galaxy and even - at certain times of the year - at shooting stars. And it is completely free! Fuerteventura has the advantage to have a lot of dark areas but it would be marvellous if the responsible authorities would take the initiative to put out the public lights every month for a couple of hours so that everybody can get the maximum out of it. Can you imagine what an effect this would have on the reputation of Fuerteventura and on future tourism here?