Hotel prices rose almost 10% in January as the rate reaches a record high

Hotel room prices on the islands rose by almost 10% in January, according to the Hotel Situation Survey published yesterday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). With this rise, it is the 20th consecutive month that prices have gone up to now register record figures.

According to the INE, this means that the income per available room (REVPAR) was 104.15 euros in January, a figure not seen before. In 2018, when record tourism figures were reached on the islands, the REVPAR exceeded 85 euros in November of that year but the statistics have never reached 104.15 before.

Similarly, the average room rate (ADR), which measures the profitability of hotel establishments, reached 123.20 euros in January in the Canary Islands. In March 2018, the average rate reached 107 euros, but the levels of this year have never been seen before.

Last week, the chief economist of the BBVA Research Services, Miguel Cardoso, warned of the risks for the tourism sector of the islands due to the increase in prices in the hotel sector. He said that, if it continued to rise, it could lead the islands losing competitiveness compared to other destinations, which tourists could choose to go to instead. "This should be monitored closely in the next few months," he recommended.

According to the Hotel Situation Survey, there were 5.5 million overnight stays registered in hotel establishments in January, 46.4% above the same month last year, and already practically at pre-Covid levels (5.9 million in January 2020).

By tourist areas, the south of Gran Canaria reached the highest occupancy rate by beds (76.4%), and the highest occupancy rate on weekends (76.7%), while the island of Tenerife registered the highest number of overnight stays in January, with 2,155,948.