Canary Islands head to Fitur after generating 22 billion euros from tourism in 2023

Tourism in the Canary Islands is gearing up for Fitur 2024 following a record-breaking year in tourist revenue for 2023. In anticipation of this year's international fayre in Madrid, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday next week, Jessica de León, the Minister of Tourism, held a press conference in Santa Cruz yesterday, accompanied by José Juan Lorenzo, the Managing Director of Tourism in the Canary Islands.

"The results could not be more positive," she said. "Tourist arrivals exceeded 16 million, generating a revenue of 20 billion euros, which rises to 22 billion when considering domestic tourism by the locals, constituting 10% of the total tourism revenue in the Canary Islands."

To these "excellent figures," she added, "the satisfactory evolution of employment indicators, as employment in tourism-related sectors grew by more than 6%, and registered unemployment decreased by over 9% compared to December 2022."

As if that were not enough, business indicators in the accommodation sector, the Average Daily Rate (ADR), and Hotel RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room) "showed extraordinary growth" compared to 2022, reaching 10.6% and 14.3%, respectively, until November. "Despite the inflationary environment of recent years, the result reflects a significant increase in profit margins for the accommodation sector."

De León emphasized the special role played by the mainland Spanish market: "In 2023, it maintained its strength, with a 1% growth compared to 2022 and 1.95 million tourists, almost reaching the peak level of 2019, when this figure reached 1.97 million.

The loyalty of the mainland Spanish market and the strong commitment of airlines to our destination are evident this summer when the Islands will have the highest connectivity in their history with the rest of the national territory."

For the summer season starting in April, the regular schedule offered by airlines has seen a 14% increase compared to the same month in 2023, equating to over 400,000 additional seats. Among the airlines, Binter will experience the highest growth, with 226,000 seats added to the existing 188,000 operated in the equivalent period of 2023.

Iberia Express will reinforce its schedule with more than 120,000 new seats, in addition to the 70,000 new seats from Vueling, which has become the leading operator from the national market to the Canary Islands, offering over 1.3 million seats for the upcoming summer, constituting 33% of the total.

Canary Islands Tourism will attend Fitur 2024 alongside 352 companies, 27 more than in 2023, of which 50 will have their own meeting space, compared to 35 last year. There will be 1,172 accredited agents (400 more). The location has expanded by 120m2 (total of 1,545m2), as an area for conferences and presentations has been set up with a capacity for 30 people.