The financial trajectory of southern Gran Canaria over the last fifteen years illustrates a shift from a volume-based model to a value-based one, where efficiency per customer has broken all historical records. Investment funds are looking to acquire hotel businesses because they represent long-term investments.
The conclusion of the series in 2025 confirms that southern Gran Canaria has entered a new dimension of profitability. With an annual average that has climbed to €174,7—and a record high of €182,3 in the third quarter—the destination has managed to increase its revenue by 45% compared to levels a decade ago. For investors, these figures validate the strategy of prioritizing revenue over arrival volume; for tourists, southern Gran Canaria has definitively established itself as a premium destination where the cost of the experience has been steadily rising since 2011.
Hotel ownership is usually in the hands of families based in southern Gran Canaria. There's usually someone who makes the decision. But shopping centers, which are in a terrible state, have multiple owners, complicating the process. This system dates back to when tourism was a popular savings vehicle, with the Caja Insular de Ahorros (Island Savings Bank) acting as a mechanism for social cohesion. Families change, and heirs are reluctant to make additional contributions. But, for example, there are shopping centers like Faro 2, which are filthy and have only one owner: Lopesan.
And what about hotel profitability? Between 2011 and 2014, the island experienced a period of flat stability, with daily spending fluctuating modestly between €113,9 and €129,7, reflecting an over-reliance on traditional European markets in the midst of recovery from the financial crisis. However, the first turning point came in 2015, when the indicator jumped to an annual average of €135,3, driven by an increase in the destination's value and the start of an investment cycle in hotel infrastructure.
From 2016 onwards, when investment funds began making mass purchases in southern Gran Canaria, the metric started a gradual but steady climb, breaking the €140 barrier in 2017 and remaining at €141,3 during the two years prior to the pandemic (2018 and 2019). The impact of Covid-19 in 2020 distorted the statistics, leaving an annual average of €140,1 after a zero second quarter, but it laid the groundwork for the subsequent aggressive recovery. In 2021, the sector began to regain ground, reaching €142, paving the way for the "supercycle" that would erupt just a year later.
The two-year period of 2022-2023 marked the end of the low-cost era in the south of the island. In 2022, daily spending soared to €159,1, a 12% increase in just twelve months, culminating in 2023 with an average of €169,7. This trend was not an inflationary mirage: in 2024, the figure consolidated its rise to €172,3, with quarterly peaks exceeding €175,8.
