The Canary Islands will have "9.6 million airline seats in the winter season" (which runs from November 2023 to March 2024), which is "7.6% more" than a year ago and "33.5% more" than in the winter of 2019, as reported this Tuesday by the Minister of Tourism and Employment, Jéssica de León.
On the other hand, the average price of hotel accommodation has "increased by 25% compared to 2019." De León has described the airline seat data as "very positive" and regarding the rise in accommodation prices, she states that it translates "into greater tourist spending at the destination."
“The positive trend that has been recorded during the first half of 2023 will continue”
“We face the future of the sector with optimism from the beginning of this course in which the Canary Islands will continue to lead the tourism recovery,” she said in a note about her first intervention before the plenary session of the Regional Chamber. In this way, the winter season “will maintain the positive trend that has been recorded during the first half of 2023,” she stated.
“If these trends consolidate, the Canary Islands could close 2023 by breaking the record of tourists it achieved in 2017, reaching 16.2 million visitors, and achieve, at the same time, a historical turnover figure, with 19 billion euros,” the councilor pointed out.
She also mentioned “the risks that threaten our main economic activity,” such as the complications in Germany and the United Kingdom, key markets in the Canary Islands, which adds to the entry of the Canary Islands into the “emissions market from January 1 and the increase” proposed by Aena, which, in her opinion, will “raise the price of airline tickets for a consumer who is increasingly sensitive to the final price of their trips.”
According to de León, this "reduces competitiveness" compared to other destinations that are not subject to these taxes, "such as Egypt or Tunisia," she expressed. Faced with the entry of the Canary Islands into the emissions market, de León has requested "the support of all parliamentary groups" in order to form "a common front before Europe" that manages to ensure that the Canary Islands are "exempt from these taxes."
