The Canary Islands expects to attract 5.8 million British tourists this year who will spend 6.7 billion euros at the destination, according to estimates by the area's councillor, Jéssica de León, in statements at the opening of the World Travel Market in London, which begins this Monday.
The Canary Islands is attending this tourism fair, one of the most important in the world, as "the only Spanish region that receives more British tourists than in 2019", given the "extraordinary recovery" of this market, which "is already at 110% compared to the pre-pandemic era and represents 35%" of all visitors received by the archipelago.
The managing director of Tourism of the Canary Islands, José Juan Lorenzo, has highlighted that, despite Brexit, which has cost the United Kingdom 5% of its GDP, and the sharp depreciation suffered by the pound, the Canary Islands continues to be the preferred destination for the British, a demand that is "immune to the current socioeconomic and geostrategic context".
This adverse situation, aggravated by the conflict in the Middle East, may lead the "refuge" destination that the Canary Islands is to "not be able to absorb" the demand diverted from markets such as Egypt or Turkey, warned De León, who stressed that a good end to the summer is expected to be followed by a good winter, a season that the Islands face with 37.1% more places available, an average expenditure per trip of 1,340 euros (6.1% more), and an average occupancy of 80%.
A trend that is expected to continue, which will mean that the Canary Islands will close a "record" year in 2023, in which it will have received 16 million tourists, who will have spent around 19,000 million at the destination, some 2,000 million more than those recorded in 2022.
The Canary Islands will be represented at the World Travel Market in London by 250 professionals from 150 companies and institutions, 29 of them with their own spaces within the 770 square meter pavilion that the autonomous community will have, where the regional government plans to meet with airlines and operators such as the TUI group, Jet2, Easyjet or the Association of Travel Agencies of the United Kingdom.