Teleférico del Teide has won an award in the “Best Practice for Innovation in Sustainable Tourism” category of the 2021 Sustainable Tourism Practices competition organised by the Tenerife Tourist Board.
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The Volcano Teide Experience and Masca Gorge Trail booking engine
This award recognises the booking engine that has been introduced for the Volcano Teide Experience and the Masca Gorge Trail for its contribution to regulating load capacity in areas of natural interest, improving user experience, and improving safety for visitors to the Masca Gorge Trail.
The Volcano Teide Experience and Masca Gorge Trail booking engine is a reservation system for direct online users and for tour operators and excursion wholesalers who have a negotiated deal that commits them to use it.
The system was introduced in 2016 for the management of bookings for the cable car service, and has been further developed and adapted so that it can be used for other natural attractions, including the Masca Gorge Trail.
A digital tool that allows companies to control the load capacity of natural attractions
Tenerife is among the islands that have experienced an accelerated growth in tourism in recent years. Both Mount Teide and Masca are among the most visited sites, resulting in overcrowding in those areas.
At certain times of the year, Teleférico del Teide customers would find themselves waiting in long queues, sometimes for periods of several hours, a problem that had worsened over the last few decades due to the staggering growth of tourism on the island. In addition to the queues, car parks were becoming increasingly congested.
This situation was resulting in plummeting levels of customer satisfaction and consequent damage to the image of the Teide National Park.
That is why Teleférico del Teide came up with the idea of a digital tool that would enable the company to adjust the flow of visitors to its facilities, thereby helping to regulate the load capacity of the Teide National Park, to prevent queues, to reduce waiting times, and to raise the satisfaction levels of visitors to Tenerife’s most popular tourist attraction.
After the system had been in existence for several years and improvements had been implemented, it was introduced in 2021 into the Masca Gorge Trail, following an agreement reached, through the Tragsa company, with the Tenerife Island Council’s Environmental Authority.
The Masca Gorge Trail is another attraction on the island that, like Mount Teide, was suffering serious effects from tourist overcrowding.
The Tenerife Tourist Board recognises Teleférico del Teide’s implementation of its innovative booking system
The award represents an acknowledgement by Tenerife’s Island Council, through the Tenerife Tourist Board (a public company set up to promote the value of the island as a tourist destination), of the initiative demonstrated by Teleférico del Teide in adopting a practice related to the Sustainable Development Goals and the island’s Strategy for Tourism, and aligned with the Charter for Sustainability for activities in areas of natural interest.
The Tenerife Tourist Board considered the booking engine developed by Teleférico del Teide for the Best Practice Award for Innovation in Sustainable Tourism on the grounds of its creative and innovative nature. Moreover, the system has already been implemented and has therefore proved an effective tool for regulating capacity in the island’s areas of natural interest, thereby improving the quality of experience for visitors.
Our company will continue to ensure that our natural and environmental heritage is respected and cared for, and will constantly strive to improve systems and processes to contribute to the sustainable development of tourism on the island.
