Norwich City FC has teamed with La Liga’s Unión Deportiva Las Palmas and Gran Canaria’s tourism board as the Canary Island destination bids to attract more British tourists from the UK.
The nickname of the EFL Championship side is the Canaries and the mascot of UD Las Palmas is a canary called Pío Pío. Both teams also wear yellow home kits.
The agreement sees the Gran Canaria tourist board logo feature on the sleeve of Norwich City’s men’s first team shirts for the 2023-24 season.
There will also be a revamped half-time entertainment programme for Carrow Road matchdays to promote tourism in the destination.
Carlos Álamo, tourism minister for tourism in the Gran Canaria government, said: “This is a great opportunity to make an impact in a strategic market for the Canary Islands and particularly Gran Canaria.
“We will enter millions of potential tourists’ homes through sports. This is a determined step to value British customers and to also maximise the potential of the 20 cities connected to Gran Canaria.”
Sam Jeffery, Norwich City commercial director, said: “This has been a collaboration long in the making, with discussions between the club, UD Las Palmas, La Liga and the Gran Canaria Tourist Board having been ongoing for nearly a year.
“The Gran Canaria logo is already on our jersey, and we’ve celebrated the first goal of the season with the logo.
“We’ll carry out other actions and campaigns to promote the island’s image, using our players to help spread the image in their home countries.”
Patricio Viñayo, general director of UD Las Palmas, commented: “By having direct contact with tour operators and by searching for our islands’ links with England, we can revitalise and highlight this relationship.”
Details of future collaboration such as mutual use of facilities, potential friendly fixtures and youth team development experiences will be announced in due course.
