Can the American tourist replace the Russian?

 

SEE ALL IMAGES OF GRAN CANARIA, APRIL 2020 - EVERYTHING CLOSED DUE TO COVID 

 

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has turned Europe upside down, from the food industry to the arms industry. But tourism has also been affected by this war, which has now lasted more than a year; So much so that Spain has begun to mobilize to replace tourism from Russia.

 

 

Reyes Maroto, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, began the process in 2022 after the outbreak of the conflict. During this process, the minister traveled to the United States on an official trip to intensify relations with the US administration and also promote Spain as a tourist destination in North American lands.

 

According to the minister's statements when asked about the results of said promotion, the destinations that will be offered mainly in the US market will be the Valencian Community, Andalusia or Catalonia. No trace of the Canary Islands in those statements.

 

 

However, talking about Russian tourism in Spain means talking about a relatively small market, one that had already been seriously affected by the pandemic. So why so much interest in filling the gap they leave? The answer is clear: Russian tourists are among the biggest spenders at their destinations , contributing €1400 billion in 2019, the last "normal" year in which spending could be accurately recorded without any external factors influencing the figures.

 

If we focus on the Canary Islands, we can see that the dynamics of Russian tourism are similar to those found in the rest of Spain. While Russian tourism has always been more closely associated with the Costa Dorada or Marbella (where there have even been controversies regarding the assets of Russian billionaires due to their alleged ties to the Moscow Kremlin), the Canary Islands have always kept a close eye on this market, even publishing a detailed profile of Russian tourists on the archipelago's tourism website. And with good reason: of the €1.4 billion spent by Russian tourists in Spain in 2019, €144 million (10,6% of the total) went to the Canary Islands. These figures more than doubled those of Madrid (€70,9 million, or 5,2% of the total) and placed the archipelago outside the top three, which was led by the regions mentioned by Minister Maroto after her trip to the United States.

 

 

So, after the "goodbye" to Russia as a tourist market, are there any real options for selling the Canary Islands as a tourist destination in the United States? It seems so. After the setback of the pandemic, Binter resumed its plan to fly to Boston and Toronto on codeshare flights with SATA, and in addition, the American airline United Airlines has announced a direct route from Tenerife to New York.

 

 

United Airlines' commitment goes beyond simply expanding its European destinations for 2023, as travel from North America to the neighboring island grew by 72% in 2022. This growth reflects the effectiveness of campaigns launched by Canary Islands public institutions to promote the archipelago as a tourist destination, notably the Hidden Canary Islands initiative presented by Turismo de Canarias (Canary Islands Tourism).

 

Only time will tell how effective the campaigns and actions carried out are to make American tourism a prominent market in the Canary Islands; For now, the data points to optimism.