Tourism of the Canary Islands appeals to the practice of responsible tourism in the islands with its new campaign deployed this summer in the peninsula. “We continue with our strategy of prioritizing the traveler who takes care of our natural environments, especially fragile due to their biodiversity, and who respects our identity values and local culture,” explains the Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León.
As De León assures, “it is not just about targeting these visitors who have sustainability as a priority consideration in their travels, but also about launching a broader message so that they are aware of the need for their responsible behavior.”
In this way, the campaign transmits a message of awareness that is part of the Canary Islands Destination Strategic Plan 2025-2027 launched by the public company Turismo de Islas Canarias, which is committed to a new tourism model that is more respectful of the environment and the identity of the archipelago.
“We are not pursuing an increase in arrivals, but rather attracting a tourist profile of greater value for the destination: one that generates a more positive and balanced economic impact, that is interested in learning about the local reality, consumes local products and services, and contributes to preserving the resources that make the Canary Islands a unique place,” emphasizes the Minister.
The creative concept of the campaign focuses on responsible tourism and makes an intuitive reflection on the definition of what it means to be a tourist today. In fact, the term ‘tourist’ is sometimes used with a certain pejorative connotation, associating it with the distorting effects of tourism activity itself.
Therefore, as the managing director of Turismo de Islas Canarias, José Juan Lorenzo, assures, “with this campaign we want to give a new meaning to the concept of the tourist, highlighting current values that demonstrate a commitment to the place that is visited and a respect not only for the environment, but also for the local society,” assures the managing director of Turismo de Islas Canarias, José Juan Lorenzo.
For this, the graphic game of the acronym of the word ‘tourist’ is used, giving a new meaning to each of its letters. The ‘t’ is defined as ‘tour with conscience’, the ‘u’ means ‘united to local traditions’, the ‘r’ is respect nature and the ‘i’ is defined as ‘involved in conservation’, a creative line that is followed with the rest of the letters.
The campaign, financed with NextGeneration EU funds, takes place in the months of July and August and is present in the main cities with direct flight connections to the islands in written and digital press, radio, social networks (Instagram, Facebook and TikTok) and outdoors.
Precisely, in this last section, a large-format and innovative canvas stands out, where you can live an immersive augmented reality experience linked to the campaign. To start it, the user must scan a QR code installed on the canvas itself, after which the letters of the advertising begin to float in the real space in front of the user, as if they were suspended in the air.
To discover the meaning of each one, the user must touch them and, when doing so, the letter comes to life: the background moves and an effect sounds according to its meaning, after which the concept associated with the selected letter is revealed.
In this way, the user discovers, one by one, all the key messages. When you have interacted with all the letters, the final content appears: ‘Do you identify? We are waiting for you in the Canary Islands’. At that moment, a series of inspiring images of the archipelago are played in full screen and, after this experience, a link is shown that invites the user to visit the website of the campaign.
The peninsular tourist spends more in restaurants and businesses
With this campaign, Turismo de Canarias intends to connect with the peninsular traveler, who is of high interest to the destination due to their greater emotional connection and greater knowledge of the archipelago and because, in addition, they want to continue learning about it during their trip. This visitor is characterized by being more curious when exploring the islands and shows a greater interest in learning about traditions, gastronomy and landscapes.
These are younger tourists than the average, with 40 years compared to 46 years. In addition, they show a greater preference for exploring the islands (37% vs. 21%) and 9% visit more than one island on their trip compared to 7% of the total.
The peninsular traveler is more independent, since only 21% contract a tourist package, compared to 50% of the total. In addition, 20% of these tourists contract the all-inclusive modality (compared to 32% of the total), to which is added that they spend more hours a day outside the accommodation (10 hours compared to 7 hours of the total).
Likewise, these visitors try more Canarian gastronomy (45% vs. 27%), enjoy leisure parks more (18% vs. 15%) and go in greater proportion to wineries and markets, as well as to museums and exhibitions (18% vs. 11% in both cases).
When choosing the Canary Islands as a holiday destination, the landscapes are a more important factor for peninsular tourists (51.7%) than for the total (35%), as well as the environmental environment of the islands (40% compared to 34% of the rest) and gastronomy (32% vs. 27%).