The island tourist destination lands at ITB 2024, the main tourism fair in the German market, which is held between March 5 and 7, with the intention of consolidating the recovery process that in the last year has managed to attract 100.000 clients Bavarians more, compared to 2022, and consolidate their highest turnover in history
Gran Canaria Tourism participates once again in the ITB fair in Berlin, a reference event for the German market, the main client of the Gran Canaria sector and which starts this Tuesday, for the first time, in third position in terms of the presence of tourists after giving way their first historical place against the British and Nordics. With Antonio Morales, island president, and Carlos Álamo, counselor responsible for the tourism area, the island delegation attends with 42 meetings on its agenda, with an increase in the number of places and connectivity for the summer, the renewal of its offer complementary, sustainable and linked to sport and active tourism, as keys to consolidating the recovery path that led to the recovery of almost 100.000 German clients in the last year.
The Minister of Tourism of Gran Canaria positively assessed the increase in clients from this market in the last year, “when it is a country that has not recovered, since it has lost 15% of its pre-Covid travelers, which implies an important part of loss in the volume of clients that our destination is not noticing.” Carlos Álamo recalled that the German economy has been affected by an energy crisis, in addition to the monetary crisis. However, the island destination was visited by 819.660 German tourist clients during fiscal year 2023. This figure represents a significant increase compared to the 720.959 tourists in 2022. In addition, a historical total expenditure valued at 806,6 million euros was recorded. , so it is understood that this market is recovering sensations in a notable way after the call to contain spending made by the German Government in recent years as a consequence of the pandemic and the economic and energy consequences derived from the conflict in Ukraine. Furthermore, it has confirmed its loyalty to the destination and the Gran Canaria tourist brand, as one of the preferred destinations, especially during the winter season in which only Turkey, with important migrant links, competes with Gran Canaria.
“We have signed the best final balance of this market in terms of the volume of visitors since 2019, when 874.742 Germans arrived on the Island and we have increased the pre-Covid turnover. The island of Gran Canaria leads this market at a regional level, since it is the one with the largest presence of Bavarian visitors in the Archipelago, out of a total of 2.5 million German tourists in the Canary Islands, and we are also the destination where they want to spend the most days. the Germans, with 11,6 days, the longest in the Archipelago,” said Carlos Álamo. "Now we are going to once again highlight the potential of the island, both in its offer of sun and beach, with our climate, but also others that have grown a lot, such as everything that has to do with our landscape, cultural and After verifying that the profile of this client is rejuvenated, we are going to highlight everything related to active and sports tourism,” he added. This also highlighted the promotion of the sustainable values of the tourist offer, recently reinforced with the recognition of the Biosphere seal that accredits Gran Canaria as one of the European destinations with the largest number of accommodations with this sustainability certificate.
The German market currently represents 21,19% of the total turnover of the island tourism sector. In 2019 it amounted to 21,89% of the total. Meanwhile, the average expenditure per tourist is 1.638,59 euros, 31,84% more than in 2019 and 14,82% more than in 2022. Expenditure on accommodation alone is currently 777,28 euros, for the German client, with an increase of 33,95% compared to 2019 and 20,64% in the interannual comparison, as shown in ISTAC statistics.
The economic result comes when, according to experts and analysts, Germany is at a turning point. The German country has an inflation rate of 3,1% in the current year and is expected to drop to 2,2 in 2025, with GDP growth of 1,2%. In 2022, GDP had fallen for the first time in Germany since reunification. Instability is perceived both politically, with enormous difficulties in approving budgets, and economically and socially, with the proliferation of large strikes. This is reflected in the tourism sector, according to Gran Canaria tourism experts. They also highlighted the unrest in immigration policy, something that has favored the rise of the extreme right.
On the other hand, the technical analysis shows that the contracting of the tourist package is recovering and the interest in sustainability continues to predominate, in a client who has a high awareness regarding the impact of their vacations on the environment, with a consideration that is especially notable. before starting the trip, that is, during planning and hiring. The surveys conducted by Turismo de Gran Canaria indicate that 11% of these clients consider it important and seek quality seals in terms of sustainability. In addition, 74% say that heat waves influence their travel plans and 30% admit that they will look for other colder places.
Online sales grew by 20%, although offline sales are also recovering after very negative years due to the pandemic, in which 3.000 travel agencies were forced to close. Tour packages are on the rise in the German market. They account for 35% of the total sales of tour operators. Spain accounts for 50% of reservations on digital channels. In 2024, there is also a recovery in advance reservations, since with the increase in flight prices, savings are sought by booking 6 or 9 months in advance.
Gran Canaria Tourism is committed to highlighting the attributes and advantages of the destination from the point of view of sustainability, through an offer based on landscape, nature or active tourism and the development of projects in common with the business community. , like that of Sustainable Biospehere. Among the priorities in Gran Canaria's strategy, a greater presence of young clients also stands out, along with the profile of couples without children, compared to 2019. These clients give enormous importance to sustainability criteria and the impact of their stay in the environmental footprint when deciding destination. Among tourism products, any proposal linked to Active Tourism is growing significantly, with great interest in the network of trails in Gran Canaria and which is especially valued by Germans.
Gran Canaria Tourism experts expect a year with a trend similar to 2023, with higher turnover. A rising summer is expected in 2024, despite the fact that seasonality is maintained with clear preferences towards the Canarian winter, since competition in summer is greater.
Regarding the customer profile, it is worth noting that before the pandemic 50% were over 60 and they largely perceived us as a destination for seniors. Now only 29% are over 60 years old. These younger clients land on the island due to the demand for sports possibilities in natural environments and active tourism. 60% come as a couple and the majority stay in four-star hotels. Another positive fact for the island economy is that 25% only buy accommodation and breakfast, moving away from the all-inclusive offer, since they prefer to get to know the island, an objective that allows redistributing the economy generated by the sector.
