Lanzarote, El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura will be present at the Navartur fair, which will be held from February 25 to 27 of this year in Navarra, in order to strengthen the loyalty of peninsular tourists.
As the Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, announced, "we continue to bet on promoting the Islands in the national market, since it is a traveler who, despite already knowing the destination, is open to discovering the novelties offered by the Archipelago in a context in which he still prefers to travel to places close to his region of origin but who at the same time seeks to be surprised with new experiences to enjoy his summer vacations."
On this occasion, in addition to the days open to the general public, Navartur will also have a specific day dedicated to professionals in the tourism sector, where eno-gastronomic, active and cultural tourism will be the protagonist and will serve as a meeting point between the Canarian delegation and specialized travel agencies. This will promote the commercialization of the exhibitors' products, promoting direct sales.
The fair, which in its last edition registered more than 44,000 visitors and which this year will be attended by representatives from El Hierro, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura, has a program of parallel activities which includes a presentation for journalists of the tourist promotion campaign of the island of La Palma "Travel to the center of the earth", by the Minister of Tourism of La Palma, Francisco Raúl Camacho. The Canary Islands stand is 85% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Canary Islands' commitment to the peninsular market and specifically to Navarra and nearby regions such as the Basque Country and Aragon, is accompanied by the increase in regular air capacity of the airlines Vueling Airlines, Air Europa and Binter Canarias, which this summer will connect Gran Canaria and Tenerife with direct flights to Pamplona, Vitoria, Bilbao, San Sebastián and Zaragoza; and also to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura with Bilbao.
During the past winter season, the frequency from these airports was 33 weekly flights. In fact, with respect to the previous winter, the number of seats increased considerably, with flights from Zaragoza being the ones that most increased their regular air capacity, specifically by nearly 11,000 seats (126.3%), followed by Bilbao, with 6,306 more seats (7.1% compared to the previous year) and Pamplona, with 3,320 more seats (64.7%).
With regard to summer forecasts, flights from Zaragoza will register an increase of nearly 31,000 new seats, which represents an increase of 310.40%. It is also worth noting the significant growth in the number of seats available on connections with Pamplona, which will increase from the 100 registered in the summer of 2019 to the more than 8,000 planned for this summer of 2022, which means a 7,952% increase.
Bilbao and San Sebastián will also see their air capacity grow in the summer of 2022, by more than 6,500 and 8,000, respectively, which will allow for a weekly frequency of 45 flights from Navarra, Aragon and the Basque Country.
According to Istac data (2019), peninsular tourists who choose the Canary Islands spend around 840 euros per trip (an average daily expenditure of 135.6 euros) and stay in the Archipelago for around 6.98 days.
The majority, 34.9%, stay in 4-star hotels, while 16.8% stay in private accommodation and 15.1% in apartments or tourist villas. 29.7% of peninsulars only contract accommodation.
