This is a new one on me. Tenerife’s black volcanic sands can burn like a branding iron and some man-made beaches such as Playa de las Teresitas feel like being at the centre of a Saharan sand storm at the first suggestion of a breeze, but they are usually soft on the soles. With every step, Del Duque’s harsh pale grains nip at my feet with the ferocity of miniscule terriers.

After being mugged by the sand, the next objective is to find a spot to lay out my beach mat. In front of me is a wall of straw umbrellas and beyond that, hugging the shoreline, is another wall of rainbow coloured parasols. It’s a sizzling hot Saturday morning in August and Spanish mainlanders are on the beach en masse occupying their favourite playa position right beside the water’s edge. They seem to instinctively know the surf’s limitations, their towels inches from where the waves teasingly lap the sand.

As a sufferer of beach claustrophobia, I stretch out on the empty expanse just behind the sunloungers and soak up the surroundings.

Lying at the western end of Costa Adeje, Playa del Duque is separated from the rest of the resort by a large rock formation jutting far out into the sea which acts as a natural curtain lending the beach an air of detached exclusivity. The Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque dominates the backdrop to the beach. Its palatial main buildings and mock Canarian beach-side architecture makes the area feel like one giant film set. Del Duque’s  St Tropez style beach huts and a white restaurant on stilts, straight out of the Caribbean add to the Hollywood feel of the place. With its movie star looks, golden sand and powder blue seas, it’s a beautiful looking beach for sure.

The feeling of being on a film set is enhanced by the fascinating beach opera being performed all around me – a beach opera starring Del Duque’s colourful hawkers. The score is provided by fruit vendors carrying baskets filled with melons, pineapples and coconuts who sing ‘Tooty fruiteee, veetameen, cocos-nuts’ as they parade between the bronzed audience.

The dancing comes courtesy of a couple of svelte, sarong sellers demonstrating their wares by weaving amongst the sun beds, swirling and twirling bright sarongs with the grace and sensuality of harem dancers. Finally, preparing the extras for the shoot, are the South East Asian masseurs; gently kneading sunbathers’ muscles that are, let’s face already pretty damned relaxed.

Then the villains of the piece appear in the form of a police car at the back of the beach; the singers fall quiet and the dancers, with practiced perfection, drop their sarongs to reveal bikinis. As the sarongs fall to the ground covering the rest of their stock the two girls follow suit, lying atop the bright cloths like any other sunbather…and Act 1 of ‘Scene at Playa del Duque’ comes to a close.

After broiling nicely for an hour and a half in 30C+ temperatures, my flesh feels cooked enough to slide easily onto a kebab skewer. Common sense dictates a change of scene. I make my way across the harsh sand to the cool shade and even cooler décor of the stylish beachfront bars at the rear of the playa, order a frosty beer and settle back to see what Act 2 brings.

Amongst the prestigious travel media professionals who make up the British Guild of Travel Writers, John Bell is a travel journalist, TV Director/Producer (John is the former Producer of Radio 4′s ‘Breakaway’ and Channel 4′s ‘Travelogue’) and tourism training professional.
I caught up with John last week at the Guild’s AGM Gala Dinner hosted by the Gran Hotel Bahía Del Duque and he had some pearls of wisdom to share with Tenerife’s tourism professionals.

Firstly, I asked John what his impressions of Tenerife had been so far and laughing, he replied; “It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be!”
Which I considered was exactly the sort of response the Cabildo (Island Government) were hoping to elicit when they invited the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) to host their Annual General Meeting on Tenerife.

Sparing no effort or expense, the Cabildo wanted to show the Guild that there’s a very different Tenerife from the one that has been poorly portrayed in the British press so many times. Judging by John’s conversation, the exercise is already yielding results and most of the BGTW delegates I spoke to were seeing a very different side to Tenerife, one that hopefully they’ll promote in their various travel media.

As well as working in travel journalism and TV, John is a media trainer in travel and tourism and he took the time to offer some invaluable advice to those of us who are involved in some form or another in Tenerife’s tourism sector.

John’s message for Tenerife is not to lose sight of its traditional market but rather to raise the standards of what’s being offered and to provide excellent value for money.
John: “That’s the key – don’t confuse low cost with poor value. Many of the people who fly on Ryanair and Easyjet are choosing to stay in 4 and 5 star accommodation. They don’t necessarily expect low prices but they do insist on good value for money.
The traditional market is changing but it’s still your staple market, don’t neglect it.”

John has recently returned from a conference in Madrid where he says he emerged with one strong message; offer better value for money to your traditional market whilst keeping an eye on emerging markets.

John: “Tenerife must be able to respond quickly to the demands of a travel public that now has the power to book their holidays 24/7 over the Internet. People may read an article about a place on Thursday and decide to go the following day for a weekend. They can book their flight immediately and the hotels need to be just as responsive. So too should the car hire companies. If the hotel and the car hire company don’t have 24/7 online booking facilities they’re going to miss out on a whole travel market.”

Tenerife hotels should offer the whole package, says John.

John: “Hotels should make available airport transfer, car hire, excursions and even travel guides. Everything should be readily bookable in one package online to make arranging a short break quick, easy and efficient for visitors.”

From where I’m standing, much of Tenerife’s professional tourism sector still has a long way to go in terms of offering a seamless package to visitors. After investing so much time and effort into hosting the BGTW, let’s hope the Cabildo can now disseminate what it has learned from these travel professionals and create a destination that will suit the Internet-savvy British market. It’s our traditional market and it’s constantly evolving…Tenerife needs to evolve with it.

Tenerife has been polishing her best profile this week to entertain, educate and enthral the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) who’ve been enjoying their Annual General Meeting on the island.
On Thursday night Tenerife Magazine was lucky enough to be invited to the Guild’s Gala Dinner at the ultra-chic Bahía Del Duque Hotel in Costa Adeje.
So, wearing my poshest outfit, fresh lipstick and stilettos I arrived at the El Duque and walked what felt like a half marathon through its grounds wishing I’d opted for hiking boots instead.

As luck would have it, I passed through a convention of Spanish surgeons en route to the Beach Club and a glass of something delicious was gracefully thrust into my hands to keep me going until I finally reached the venue and caught up with Sarah Monaghan, editor/travel writer/photographer and press and PR co-ordinator for the BGTW.

I asked Sarah what had impressed her so far about Tenerife.
Sarah: “Well I was completely wowed by Teide National Park; the light, the landscape and the colours were extraordinary and the way that you could see the lava from eruptions so clearly.
I’m looking forward to walking in the rainforest in the Anaga Mountains tomorrow and to discovering more about the wines on Tenerife; the history of wine growing, which grapes are used and how they cultivate the vines in this climate.”

A strong supporter of ecotourism, Sarah wasn’t too keen on the amount of development taking place on the Tenerife south coast but found the general environment to be surprisingly good.
Sarah: “I think the standards of accommodation here are excellent and I’m extremely impressed with the cleanliness of the whole area and the quality of lifestyle that visitors can enjoy.”

The Cabildo (Island Government) have arranged a whole series of trips for the BGTW to show them a different side to Tenerife and one which the Cabildo hope will result in some features that encourage more people to get out and about on the island and discover some of the ‘real’ Tenerife.
Sarah: “We’ll be taking a look at Canarian cookery, we’re going to the Anagas and we’ve been to banana plantations and a small rural hotel. These are things that many visitors to the island wouldn’t normally do and it’s shown us a very different face to Tenerife.”

With a distinguished and varied publishing and editorial career already under her belt, I was keen to know how Sarah felt that the travel writing industry was changing in the light of the explosion of Internet-based travel information.
Sarah: “There have been meteoric changes in the freelance travel writing sector as a result of the growth of the Internet and we are all blogging and tweeting now. But it’s important to realise that very little of the information which we see on the Web is impartial. I believe there is still a place for properly researched, impartial travel writing, particularly when if focuses on a specialist area. The availability of so much information is forcing those within the industry to specialize more which is not a bad thing.”

After a night of fine food, excellent wine, Carnaval-themed entertainment and a spectacular laser show, the journey back to the exit of the Bahia Del Duque Hotel proved challenging. And I wasn’t the only one failing to rise to the challenge. By the time we finally found the exit we were quite a gathering, including John Carter. It seems travel writers can find their way around the World but give us a complicated hotel layout and we might as well be in an episode of ‘Lost’.

If the BGTW finds that’s it’s missing a few members when it gets back to Blighty, can I suggest that they start the search at the Bahia Del Duque?