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TUI Group, one of the world’s top travel companies, is dipping its toes into something new: long-term rentals in the beautiful Canary Islands. They want to fix problems like crowded tourist areas and expensive housing, all while helping the local community thrive.

 

The global tour operator is looking ahead to another bumper season, but its CEO Sebastian Ebel is more than aware of the recent upset in Tenerife and other tourism destinations due to “overcrowding”.

 

“Putting it bluntly, the main targets of the complaints are Airbnb and similar platforms,” he said.

 

“These are not protests against tourism, but rather protests calling for responsible tourism that is also economically successful for local people.”

 

Locals have been taking to the streets complaining about the stress too many holidaymakers put on the area and the impact on the housing market, but TUI has come up with a novel plan: invest in comfortable long-term rental apartments and houses rather than high-rise hotels.

 

When TUI invests in apartments instead of hotels, it creates jobs in fields like managing properties, maintenance and cleaning. These gigs help boost the local economy and improve life for the people living on the islands, and since more work means happier guests, everybody wins.

 

Explaining the tour company’s motivation, Mr Ebel said, “We are offering to create living spaces for employees and other residents; we are happy to tackle the issue head-on.”

 

“It is not our place to dictate how many tourists a destination can accommodate; that is the responsibility of local politicians.”

 

However, the CEO feels strongly that much of the animosity over housing shortages in both the Canary and Balearic Islands is as a result of foreigners buying up all of the available properties “in order to rent them out to tourists.”

 

Investing in more apartments, TUI hopes to be part of the solution in satisfying both residents and holidaymakers.

 

 

Image: TUI