The Minister of Tourism of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, has indicated that the 2.3 million seats that airlines have put on sale for the winter tourist season are 30% more than in 2019, a commitment that "surprises" due to "the bad omens" derived from the international situation.
Castilla, during an appearance in a parliamentary committee at the request of ASG deputy Jesús Ramos Chinea, indicated that the most likely thing is that this wide offer of air seats "will be adjusted" and modified until the end of the year, given the loss of purchasing power due to the socioeconomic situation.
"We have a worrying and uncertain panorama due to the effects of the geopolitical conflict," Castilla acknowledged, but insisted that this contrasts "with the great commitment" that airlines are currently maintaining, with half a million more seats from January to March put on sale than in 2019.
The Ministry is going to do everything possible "so that those seats are maintained and, above all, so that they come occupied," she announced.
Yaiza Castilla emphasized that "for the moment the population seems to be accepting the price increases, because they want to spend and above all they want to travel after two years of pandemic and confinement, a desire that we have not hesitated to take advantage of through our promotional campaigns."
Good figures in the summer
The Minister said that the summer campaign, still underway since it lasts until October, is being very positive for tourism in the Canary Islands.
With the available data, which goes from April to July, "we have more than recovered the connectivity" prior to the pandemic, with 10% more, as well as the number of visitors, 1% more.
The people staying in establishments are still 2% below the figures prior to covid.
In the case of peninsular tourism, the growth of visitors from April to July is greater, with 3% more, which still contrasts with the -3% of international tourism.
The promotion campaigns have helped a lot, the Minister said, who related that the new promotional formulas of integration and adaptation of messages in all media and social networks have allowed to exceed the expectations and results of all previous campaigns in terms of coverage, audience segmentation, traffic and reach.
She gave as an example the three million interactions with the different advertisements of the national summer promotional campaign or the 10.5 million video views.
Castilla indicated that "the recovery is already a fact", with 11 million air seats for the summer campaign between all markets, 9.7% more than in 2019, which is influenced by the growth of connections with the peninsula and the United Kingdom.
This summer alone there are 24 regular connections with national airports, the highest figure reached so far.
She highlighted the 32% increase in connections with La Palma, mainly due to the increase in seats with the peninsula.
