The French tourist is becoming a key element for the diversification of source markets to Lanzarote, whose tourism has traditionally been dominated by operators from the United Kingdom, followed by the Germans.
Gallic tourism to Lanzarote has quadrupled in the last 10 years, according to data from the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics (ISTAC) and FRONTUR-Canarias, disseminated by the Lanzarote Data Center. If in 2012 a total of 47,716 French tourists arrived on the island, last year there were 185,226.
The phenomenon is also observable at the level of all the Canary Islands. According to the Ministry of Tourism, in 2010, 204,000 French visitors arrived in the Canary Islands, and in 2022, the figure stood at more than 775,000.
Much of this increase is due to the strong commitment of airlines to connect France with the Canary Islands. Currently, there are different companies that have direct flights, such as Binter, Easyjet, Volotea, Vueling, Transavia or Ryanair.
The Minister of Tourism, Jessica de León, points out that "the diversification of markets is an essential strategy when it comes to continuing to advance in the competitiveness and resilience of the Canary Islands destination."
Thus, despite these already very positive data, she is confident that "there is still growth potential." And for this, they have attended the Grand Pavois fair, which will last until next Monday, and where they will promote the destination and try to establish meetings with companies in the region to encourage arrivals.