Earlier this week, Eden Catamaran joined a quality service agreement for the whale watching industry in Tenerife.
 
The councillor of Tourism in Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez, and representatives of nine companies that provide whales watching tours in the south of the island have signed an agreement in the municipality of Arona to boost the quality service these companies offer to the tourists.

José  Manuel Bermúdez said in a press release that this letter of quality, in which drafting the administration worked for more than three months in collaboration with the companies of this sector is “a remarkable step forward in the commitment to establish a balance between the tourist activities and the protection of the marine life of the island to maintain the sustainability of our environment”.  

The nine companies that adhered to this agreement are: Tenerife Dolphin, Mar de Ons, Bonadea II Charter Sailing, Eden Catamarán, Whaleadventure, Teserca Uacht, Marítima Acantilados, Neptuno Sea Company and Travelin Lady. They committed to follow 14 established guidelines related to environment, operation and communication to offer an added value to their tourist services and promote environmental awareness through whales watching.

Among the most important environmental measures is the selective management of the boats’ wastes, to foster the use of recycled materials and the permanent collaboration between the companies to maintain the waters clean and to perform onboard researching tasks.  

To obtain a quality tourist experience, the companies have to accept the idea of having a trained tourist guide onboard who helps tourists and explain what they are seeing. This way, an experienced guide in whales watching will be working with groups of tourists above 25 people, while for smaller groups the skipper may act as tourist guide, as far as he or she has experience in this activity.   

With regards to the relationship with customers, the tourist companies shall provide information at least in two languages (Spanish and English) and, before each trip, an introductory talk shall be given about the activity to promote social awareness about the natural resources that make this tourist product possible.  

Other aspects to be taken into account are related to the necessity of a continuous training of the staff, and the conduction of daily satisfaction surveys among the customers.   

The signature of this quality agreement that counted with the presence of the Councilors of Tourism from Arona and Santiago del Teide, José David Herrera and Germán Jiménez respectively, is part of the “Plan de Dinamización del Producto Turístico Tenerife Acoge” (Tenerife Welcome – Tourist Product Boosting Plan) which provides economic support to the tourist business community to create new tourist products and to dynamize the existing ones. The agreement was signed in 2007 having a budget of 3.6 million euros for a three-year period. Three public entities are involved in this project: the Council of Tenerife, the Tourist Department of the Canarias Government and the Spanish Tourist Ministry.