Gran Canaria closes the fourth best month of August in its history

 

Gran Canaria closed the arrival statistics of tourist clients during the month of August with 258.387 foreign passengers, according to data published by AENA, which implies an increase of 2,08% in the interannual comparison and a slight increase over the 247.751 foreign passengers of August 2019. This data, a statistical advance of a month of low season that allows us to assess the behavior of the sector, represents the fourth best calculation in the arrival of international tourists in a month of August since records exist, only surpassed by the three record years in the sector -2016, 2017 and 2018- and thereby exceeding the volume of clients prior to the appearance of COVID  and thereby consolidating the recovery process from the international shutdown of the sector caused by the health pandemic. 

 

The accumulated figure for the current fiscal year of 2023 presents a total of 2.337.624 foreign passengers, which represents an increase of 16,34% - the largest in the Canary Islands - compared to the balance of August 2022 and practically equals the records of 2019, remaining in -0,5% in the accumulated statistics for the year. This in terms of the traffic of foreign clients, since the accumulated total volume of passengers at Gran Canaria Airport, according to Aena data, is already the largest in history, accounting for 4.458.554 total passengers arriving (only the outward trip) compared to 4312.726 in 2019, taking the months from January to August as a reference. National passengers show an increase of 15% and inter-island passengers of 0,9% for +3,4% in the total volume of the Gran Canaria aerodrome. 

 

 

“It is a very positive development in which it seems that the recovery of the sector is definitively consolidated, being above the passengers of 2019, despite the fact that the situation in our two main markets continues to weigh us down, such as Germany, mainly. , and the Nordic that are immersed in a scenario of economic complexity and uncertainty due to the war close to their borders. In this sense, our effort to diversify and capture or promote new markets and new customer niches is bearing fruit and compensates for the drop in the volume of hiring and reservations of Germans and Nordics," explained Carlos Álamo, head of the Tourism area of ​​the Council. 

 

Álamo assured that the promotion strategy is giving “good results and we, from Gran Canaria Tourism, are convinced that, if a new distorting element does not appear on the international panorama, we will be able to close the year 2023 above the numbers of 2019 in terms of passengers and above all with a turnover volume of the sector, which is our priority, which will be historic, a record for Gran Canaria and significantly higher than the percentages of inflation and price increases," said the Minister of Tourism of Gran Canaria  

 

Carlos Álamo considered the “unprecedented” volume of connectivity a milestone for this imminent 23/24 winter season with an increase of around 7% of the places compared to the winter season of last year and much higher than the connectivity of 2019. and early 2020. “We have more connections and more routes, not only with the main capitals but also with the main provincial cities in Spain and many in Europe, making the trip to Gran Canaria more comfortable and attractive,” concluded Álamo.