Hotel Dunas Canteras: Inclusive Destination Development Nests in the Canary Islands
© Scott Paul Rains
Ángel Luis Tadeo is a man who knows that a single step--or a single curb, raised threshold, or a doorway that is too narrow for a wheelchair--can prevent a journey. He had the wisdom, and business sense, to understand that this means that somebody (500 million somebodies worldwide by his calculation) is not receiving the product they need.
Sr. Tadeo is a philanthropist as well as a successful businessman. He knows that business does well when it does good. By making a radical commitment to Universal Design in the development of his newest Canary Islands hotel, Hotel Dunas Canteras in Las Palmas on Gran Canaria Island, he is betting that he has created a sustainable business model that allows him to be both.
The Hotel Dunas Canteras promises a very appealing array of services when it opens in late September 2005.
Operating as the first of a series of hotels catering to comfortably affluent seniors, Dunas Canteras launches the Dunas Salud network of hotels. Combining best practices of inclusive design and the amenities of a spa and clinic it will bring to the Paseo de Las Canteras in Las Palmas:
- Barrier free architecture throughout
- Personalized attention to dietary needs
- Environmental enhancements for those with sensory loss
- Universally designed spa facilities
- Accessible Piano Bar
- Relief for those who provide respite care
- Attendant care or occupational therapy for guests requiring it
- Educational, social, and artistic opportunities
The Dunas Canteras is sited where the Palacio Sansofé once stood making the project also a model of sustainable reuse.
Cristóbal del Rosario serves as advisor to the project. He explains that this new addition to the Las Palmas beachfront offers short vacation stays, longer visits, and even residential accommodations. As in so many other parts of the world where Inclusive Tourism business models are taking root the Dunas Canteras is having positive ripple effect--"positive externalities"--on the surrounding area. In fact, one of the projected social benefits is the informal implementation of Inclusive Destination Development as neighboring businesses adapt to the influx of economic resources brought by an underserved market niche. Other regions of the world have begun experimenting with this model:
The Dunas Group has an extra edge. Situated in the home territory of one of the world's earliest pioneers of Inclusive Travel, José Ignácio Delgado Redondo , the company has the resources to replicate its hotel outside Tenerife.
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