Tourism of the Canary Islands will be present at the IFTM Top Resa fair held these days in Paris. This is the most important professional meeting held in France, bringing together travel agents, tour operators and specialized press looking for the best destination for different segments of tourists. After the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany, France is the largest source market for tourists to Lanzarote. A total of 115,120 French people visited Lanzarote between January and August this year.
The Canary delegation to the French country is made up of 20 people and has a stand with six counters through which nearly 24,000 professional visitors are expected to pass. As noted by the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, "the French market continues to boom, mainly due to the increase in air routes between the islands and this country. An example of the commitment to this market is the entry of Binter with direct flights to different cities such as Toulouse, Marseille and Lille". The Canary Islands' stand at this fair is 85% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
French tourists spend more than 140 euros a day
France is one of the countries that has been showing clear signs of growth in recent years, a trend that is now confirmed and that, according to tourist arrival data in 2021, positions it as the fourth market in the ranking of arrivals to the Canary Islands, and also holds fourth place in terms of turnover. Specifically, last year a total of 460,424 French people visited the archipelago, representing a 6.9% share of the total number of travelers arriving in the Islands; while in turnover it amounted to 462 million euros.
It is a tourist profile characterized by an average stay of 9.11 days, an average expenditure per person per trip of 1,154 euros and an average daily expenditure of 140.8 euros. Their favorite destination is Tenerife, as 44% of French people visit this island. They stay in hotels in 59.7% of cases and only 12.8% choose apartments, in addition to the 27.5% who opt for other types of establishments. Also, four out of ten are repeaters, the average age is 42 years and 49% come as a couple while 12.1% do so with children.
The places they visit most are the Teide National Park in Tenerife; the Fire Mountain in Lanzarote; the Maspalomas Dunes in Gran Canaria; and the Jandía Beaches in Fuerteventura.
On the other hand, the average rating on their satisfaction scale is 8.67, and they rate their intention to return to the Canary Islands with 8.15 and their intention to recommend the Archipelago with 8.68.
In addition to the days at the fair, the Spanish Tourism Office in Paris has planned a series of working meetings at its headquarters to which representatives of the Archipelago are invited to learn about the 2023 France Promotion Plan.
