Gran Canaria confirms at the ITB in Berlin an increase in connectivity in the German market for the summer and winter seasons

 

 After two days of meetings at the return of the ITB fair in Berlin, Gran Canaria Tourism was able to confirm the good forecasts in terms of connectivity for the summer and winter season of 2023 and 2024. The island will have a 1,87 % more air seats, compared to the comparison with 2022, and 1,5% for the high season. In addition, routes from Bremen, Dresden and Kassel are recovered and an increase is especially significant at the Frankfurt and Stuttgart airports. 

 

In total, there are direct flights from 19 cities in Germany, with Dusseldorf and Frankfurt International airports carrying the most German passengers per year to Gran Canaria, with 152.000 and 130.000 passengers per year. The companies that send the most customers to the island destination are TUI (187,897), Condor (186.959) and Lufthansa (128.764 passengers). The first two have 25% of the market in the summer season and 50% for the entire year. Regarding the number of places, Gran Canaria will have 317.261 between May and October. In the same period of 2022, the Island had 311.626 seats. These will be distributed among a greater number of flights, with a total of 1.671 compared to 1.580 last year. 

 

“We are quite satisfied because it has not been an easy task. In summer we are in the same line of growth as the rest of the Archipelago and facing the winter season our Island will be positive in the total number of seats, something that has not been easy with the exit of Norwegian from the market, among other things” said the Minister of Tourism of Gran Canaria, Carlos Álamo, at the head of the Gran Canaria delegation at the Berlin event, together with President Antonio Morales. “Of course, we still have to fill those seats and thereby consolidate our complete recovery, but the airlines and tour operators reserve these seats based on a forecast and with information that is positive in terms of reservations and all this will help us in a year like the current one. in which we expect a record in billing,” he added.

 

All this makes the tourist destination of Gran Canaria optimistically face the final stretch of its recovery, after the stoppage due to the international pandemic, since it received 720.959 German clients between January and December of last year. The previous reference to Covid was 874.742 tourists and the decrease in clients occurred as a consequence of the various crises and uncertainty derived from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the call for spending containment made in March by the German Government fearing that gas and oil reserves will be dangerously reduced during the winter. This, finally, has not happened as it has not dropped below 90% at any time and the GDP has not been affected, remaining around 5% in Germany. These indicators are having a positive effect on tourist travel reservations to Gran Canaria, so the objective established by the representatives of the Cabildo is to equal or exceed the records of the pre-Covid series and which are between 800.000 and 900.000 customers. "What we are quite clear about is that this will be the best year in turnover for the Gran Canaria sector, thanks to the diversification of markets, with the increase in French, Italian, Dutch and Belgian, among others, and the improvement of the offer and the local product with great prominence for the gastronomic, which is fashionable,” said Carlos Álamo. “Gran Canaria has set a record turnover goal for 2023 and reaching 4,5 million tourists,” concluded the Tourism Minister of the Gran Canaria Cabildo.

 

Finally, the counselor confirmed the interest of the agents, companies, and above all the client, in the sustainable tourism offer of the Island, especially among a tourist with a young profile who has been educated under these values. “It is already something that the client demands and in which I sincerely consider that we are well positioned. Many of our tourism companies are already working on waste treatment, water or environmental improvement projects, and now what we must prioritize is that all this information reaches the potential client and chooses Gran Canaria, a destination with a natural offering. and linked to active tourism that attracts more clients every day, among them Germans who are in love with our network of trails”, Álamo values ​​before concluding that “today the sustainable offer and the security that the tourist stay will not negatively affect "The territory has become a priority when choosing a destination, which is why we encourage our entrepreneurs to join the Biosphere, Sustainable Destination certification project." 

 

Another growing indicator is the average stay, with 10,91 days for the German one compared to 9,74 for the rest of the markets during the year 2022. The figure for 2019 was 10,7 days for the German one and 9,29 for the German one. rest.