Gran Canaria reinforces its position as a preferred destination for Germans at the ITB in Berlin

 

After having the best month of December and January, consecutively, both in billing and in customer volume, last January - with 448.376 visitors of which 85.438 were German - was the third best monthly record in the history of the island, The tourism sector of Gran Canaria, with Antonio Morales, president, and the advisor responsible for the tourism area, Carlos Álamo, took part in the opening day of the ITB in Berlin with positive feelings and the objective of consolidating the trend of last year that It ended with the recovery of 100.000 clients for the island and the return of this market to its usual position as the first island client in the current winter season.  

 

 

The island destination was visited by 819.660 German clients during the 2023 financial year. This figure represents a significant increase compared to the 720.959 tourists in 2022 and implies that, with a total expenditure of 806,6 million euros in 2023, this market has recovered its usual vital signs as the first historical client of Gran Canaria in Winter and allows us to leave behind the call to contain spending made by the German Government in recent years as a consequence of the pandemic and the economic and energy difficulties derived from the conflict in Ukraine. Despite the economic difficulties, with the first negative GDP indicator since the reunification of the country, Gran Canaria 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. 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.

 

Antonio Morales stated that Gran Canaria is a leading destination for German clients, surpassed in the last year only by Turkey due to family and immigration ties. “It is true that we are slightly below the number of German visitors compared to 2019, but we do have a higher turnover and also a 4% increase in connectivity for the initial months of summer.” The president of Gran Canaria assured that the hotels are practically and month after month we sign historic numbers, such as the best month of December and January, which ranks as the third best monthly record. For this reason he proposed a reflection. "We have to get out of our minds whether or not to guarantee the success of a tourism exercise solely by the number of arrivals, if not by the turnover, and here we see how the German tourist is the one that generates the most income, with 1.500 billion in turnover, the one that spends the most on the Island, with an average of more than 1.600 euros, when the average of the rest is 1.400, and the one that spends the most days in our destination, with 11,6 days; the largest in the Archipelago. Therefore, it is a medium-high quality segment, which usually stays in four-star hotels and generates more economy than the rest. The data is good and we have to continue insisting on consolidating the loyal tourist and the one who spends the most.”

 

The Minister of Tourism of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria also positively assessed the change in market trend last year and the return of the Germans as the first client of Gran Canaria in winter, leaving the summer for the increase in visitor arrivals from the Kingdom. United. "We have to value the success of the national market diversification campaign, which is why we now find national markets at their historical maximum, such as the British, French, among others, and which allows us to reduce the historical dependence on Germans and Nordic countries, to present ourselves as a more robust destination, and we have achieved a balance with a majority of Germans in winter and British in summer that means that our hotels are practically full all year round and have achieved the highest turnover in history," explained Carlos Poplar.   

 

In addition, Álamo announced that the promotion of the island in Germany and its main markets will have as a novelty the commitment to four large events of a marked promotional nature as an attraction, such as the visit to the island of the Circo del Sol, the presence of Gran Canaria Live and the La Liga Futures soccer tournament. In addition, the counselor assured that they are in negotiations with a fourth event that they will be able to announce shortly. "This is a reinforcement in promotion and a way, as a claim, by which we intend to continue advancing when it comes to rejuvenating the profile of the German customer and which we have managed to reduce in recent years thanks to our sports offer, the linked to active tourism and also to shows and events.  

 

“Just five years ago, 50% of the Germans who visited us were over 60 years old and German society, especially young people, saw us as a destination for seniors. Now, we have managed to reduce it and only 29% are over 60 years old. The truth is that we have managed to change our image and achieved a generational change, something that ensures that we will continue to have the loyalty of this client in the future,” added the counselor.

 

Regular plane seats for the summer of 2024 will initially grow by 4% between May and July, with 163.417 scheduled seats and 176.671 for the months of August and October and which is waiting to close positively after the ITB meetings. In addition, Gran Canaria will have an improvement in connectivity with the entry of a new route from Munich through Eurowings. Álamo highlighted this data when considering that Germany has not yet recovered the volume of travelers before Covid. “Germans traveled 15% less than in 2019. But, all in all, we have improved a lot in the number of arrivals and connectivity and we are their first or second option for traveling in winter, so we are in a favorable situation for exceed the income level again in 2024,” he assured. 

 

Finally, sustainability once again prevailed in most professional meetings as a reality already present in the hiring and reservation process. "Germans are increasingly becoming more aware of sustainability and are deeply concerned about Climate Change, due to the impact on their vacation stay, as we also see in the Nordics, so it is important to insist on the message that there is We must make progress on the island on these issues, such as with digitalization, and try to compensate for the footprint that tourists generate during their flight and stay, through sustainability policies such as the management and conservation of water, waste, a greater use of clean energy, recycling of products, etc. These are important initiatives to retain this client,” concluded Antonio Morales.