OUTSTANDING NEWS

Opening soon: The Grand Casino in Antigua

The town of Antigua, with its importance as a tourism center on the beautiful island of Fuerteventura, has been chosen as the place for opening the Grand Casino in Antigua, which is expected to open its doors in early 2012.

The Elba Carlota Beach & Convention Resort ****, Elba Hotels, will host in its facilities this new leisure offer for residents and tourists visiting the island every year.

This project aims to become one of the leading tourist attractions in the area. Its 1000 m2 are distributed on two floors, with several games featuring 8 tables (2 Black Jack, 2 American Roulette, 2 Poker and 2 Texas Poker) and 40 high tech slot machines interconnected with progressive jackpots. It will also offer a bar, restaurant and lounge. It is therefore not only an entertainment alternative for area residents but will also generate employment for them.

The Grand Casino in Antigua will be another element of attraction for the area, which already has a wide range of hotels, golf courses, thalasso spa, variety of water activities, among others, all linked to the natural characteristics of the island: sun, beach, golden sands, pleasant temperatures all year round and paradisiacal landscapes, which are themselves attractions for the thousands of tourists who visit the island every year.

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96% of the visitors of the Fuerteventura island would repeat their stay.

Each year a representative sample of tourists visiting the island of Fuerteventura, is interviewed to ascertain their views on the ranch. In the last issue a total of 1,250 respondents, of whom 40.3% were from German, commenting on the reasons why they chose the island as a destination. Environmental characteristics and climate encourage them.

96% of respondents in 2010 have declared that they would repeat as a holiday destination and 98% would recommend it to family and friends as a good destination. In addition more than 50% of respondents visited the island for the first time. Fuerteventura is itself a destination that attracts a high frequency of repetition of stay.

The results have been made public by the Cabildo of Fuerteventura in May 2010.

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Fuerteventura International Award for the quality of its coasts.

On latest edition of Quality Coast Awards he island of Fuerteventura has been recognized as a place committed to marine conservation. A qualification of international scope that rewards healthy coasts, sustainable development practices and the coexistence of environmental values and the touristic economic activities in the island. Fuerteventura was awarded in the categories of “availability Quiet Areas, natural values and Bathing Water Quality.”

This qualification is reviewed every two years and is supported by the EUCC, The Coastal& Marine Union and partly funded by the european commission.

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Fuerteventura declared as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO from 2009.

UNESCO at its 21th Session of the MAB International, held in Paris from 25 to 29 May 2009, declared Fuerteventura as a Biosphere Reserve On its surface, Fuerteventura has a wide range of ecosystems, ranging from semi-desert areas to coastal and marine habitats where a variety of species including dolphins and whales and sea turtles live.

People on the island are focused on developing eco-tourism on the basis of sustainable development. The island is one of the models for implementing the EU Directive on Renewable Energies.