The Minister of Tourism of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria offers an overview of the recovery of the sector and points out that the year will end among the three best in customer volume and the best in billing.
The Gran Canaria airport closed the month of October 2023, according to data published by Aena, with the arrival of 333.820 international passengers, which is 7% more compared to the same month of the previous year. The accumulated data for this year, between January and October, records the presence of 2.914.768 clients from foreign airports, which implies 14% more entries through the Gran Canaria aerodrome compared to the same months as in 2022.
“We are more than satisfied with the performance of the sector in recent months, especially after a summer of rebound in most tourist markets that has served to consolidate the increase in turnover with an increase of 30% compared to 2019, and place Gran Canaria as one of the main destinations for European clients,” said Carlos Álamo, Tourism Minister of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria. He pointed out that to Aena's data we must add the entry of 434.019 cruise passengers between January and September of this year and some 407.303 national clients. “We are approaching 3 million, according to Frontur data, and everything indicates that we will reach the 2019 arrival data before the end of the year, a figure that is close to our capacity limit from the point of view of environmental and social sustainability. ”Alamo added. "All in all, and as we have said on other occasions, we will end this year among the three best years in the history of the sector in customer volume and the largest by far in billing."
The tourism sector of Gran Canaria has invoiced 974 million euros in the last quarter, according to tourist spending surveys by ISTAC. The average expense per client and trip is 1.284 euros, the highest in the Archipelago, with 155,7 euros per day per client. This turnover is 3,4% higher than last year. While the accumulated amount for the year, with a value of 2.606 million euros, has increased by 27% compared to 2022 and presents an average expenditure per client per day of 1.430 euros.
In the behavior of the different international markets, the continuity of the British customer stands out as the one with the greatest presence and volume of passengers for Gran Canaria during the current year. Tourists from the United Kingdom ended the summer as the main one in Gran Canaria, displacing Nordics and Germans, and continue with their positive dynamics by adding 85.675 entries into the Gran Canaria airport according to the October report. This data represents an increase of 9% compared to October 2022 and brings the accumulated presence of clients from the United Kingdom to 778.546 British clients. In this way, the tourism sector of Gran Canaria would be close to surpassing the best historical record for this market, set in 2017 with the arrival of 887.886 Britons. It is worth mentioning that the arrival of cruise clients would also need to be accounted for and that they will further increase the weight of this market in the sector.
The markets that showed an upward trend in the month of October are: Belgium, with 9,32% more than in the same month of 2022; the Dutch, with 12% more; Hungary (46%); Ireland (32%); Poland (7%); Portugal (7,57%); Czech Republic (15,42%) and Senegal (9,63%). “This market diversification strategy has allowed us to compensate for the drop in arrivals from Germans and Nordics, who show a beginning of recovery, after spending almost two years with great caution in their expenses,” Álamo explained. The German market behaved positively during the month of October, with 70.684 passengers, 9,77% more than last year. It was only surpassed in volume by the British (85.675 arrivals).
The forecasts for the winter season are better than last year, with an increase in connectivity that has 1.511.360 seats for the months of October, November and December (1.493.451 seats in 2022) and 1.620.463 air seats for the months of January, February and March 2024. This implies an increase of 1,2% for the first three months and an increase of 11,6% compared to the 1.452.099 that Gran Canaria had during the first three months of 2023. The counselor pointed out that an average occupancy in the island's hotels is estimated to be approximately 74% for November and December, in the absence of knowing the data on last-minute reservations, which are numerous. Currently, we are at 78% occupancy, with 82,7% of hotel rooms occupied and 69% of apartments.
“We also continue to be the island where tourists want to stay the longest, since the average stay of our clients is 9,6 days,” added the Tourism Minister.
Finally, it should be noted that the average customer rating, as part of the global tourist perception and based on an index that includes aspects such as accommodation, security, climate and tourist products, has increased two percentage points in recent months, reaching a score of 81,50, this being the highest of the Spanish destinations. “This is the result of the enormous effort that the entire sector has made for many years and I would like to recognize and thank the effort and involvement of the technical team and all the Gran Canaria Tourism professionals, from the one with the least responsibility to the manager. They have done an immeasurable job and with many difficulties. I sincerely believe that the sector is in very good hands and I would like to thank it publicly,” he concluded.
