Next June 22nd, Club La Santa's 40th anniversary is celebrated, a benchmark for sports tourism, which invoices 35 million euros a year and has been visited by many elite athletes in search of a stable climate most of the year.
Its founder, the pastor of the Church of Denmark, Ejlif Krogager, defined it as a "sports oasis." His daughter and grandchildren, the current owners, and many of the clients and former employees who have passed through its facilities will attend the anniversary.
The current director of Club La Santa, Solveig Olsen, trained as a social worker and arrived in Lanzarote in 1981 to take care of a child in a family of Swedish compatriots. The following year she began working in hotels and in 1990 she arrived at Club La Santa to work part-time in the reservations department. Over the years she rose to become director.
In an interview with Ekonomus, she shares the keys for Club La Santa to remain a reference among sports tourism lovers and to distinguish itself from the competition.
- How were the beginnings of Club La Santa 40 years ago?
The pastor of the Church of Denmark, Ejlif Krogager, first created a tour operator to transport people from his town by bus throughout Europe and became a leader on the continent for a long time.
Desperate to find more beds in Lanzarote, in 1978 he decided to buy a hotel. Some hotel managers in the area showed him the ruins of some facilities from ten years ago that were going to be vacation homes, but which were not completed due to the oil crisis.
"We often reach 100% occupancy, which should be impossible"
He did not want to do typical sun and beach tourism, so having so much space he decided to organize sports activities, he was ahead of his time. In addition, this area has a microclimate much more stable than the rest of the island, because the sea, with wind from the north, maintains a practically equal temperature in summer and winter.
- How much does Club La Santa invoice in a year?
Now it invoices about 35 million euros, but in the 80s and early nineties it had tremendous losses.
- Where are the clients of La Santa from?
It started with Danes, English and Germans, who were the strongest markets he had with his tour operator, but today there are clients from all over. Also, if there is availability, Club La Santa opens up to new markets. After covid we started to have many more Swiss, French, Italians...
"We had the Ferrari team with Alonso and Mazza"
- How many tourists have stayed at La Santa since its opening, how many stay annually?
Millions of people. There are people who were here the first year and keep coming. Several generations of families come. There were some very hard years with low occupancy in the 80s in which weeks of timeshare were sold, but now we have about 450,000 overnight stays a year and 70% repeat.
- Is there any mechanism for the local population to also enjoy the facilities of La Santa?
We have some annual passes for 500 euros, but they are quite limited, they cannot book, they can only see if there are places left on the same day in a certain activity and then they can join.
"Very few Ironman athletes stay at the Club, it benefits us during the year because they come to train"
- How many workers does the Club have?
We have 445 workers of 24 nationalities, more than half are women, some positions are full-time and others are part-time, especially in housekeeping and restaurant. There are profiles of the most varied, many have languages. For us, equality is very important, in the board of directors, three out of eight are women, almost half.
- What profiles are harder to find? Is the pay good?
The vast majority of workers are on a base salary, but the strength of the club is that it pays on time and without delay in extra payments or vacation allowances or whatever. Also the stability.
What is most difficult for us to find is housekeepers, waiters and kitchen staff. It is also not so easy to get sports instructors with qualifications and who can also teach in perfect English, although now we have more Spaniards than ever.
"We were very respectful when the Playitas hotel opened in Fuerteventura and just as they had been spying here, we went to spy there too"
- Can you give us some examples of the best-known athletes or teams that have been at the Club?
Some I can say and others I can't (laughs). Oscar Piatri, Formula 1 driver; Tom Kristensen, a Dane who comes a lot and who won the 24 hours of Le Mans nine times. The Ferrari Formula 1 team was also there, when Alonso and Mazza were there.
Lindford Christie, who won a gold medal in Barcelona, came here to train for a long time and now that he is retired he brings his students from his athletics school. We have had the Audi racing team for four years in a row. The Qatar handball team is also a regular here. Now we have the paralympic swimming and athletics teams from Germany.
- Among the numerous sporting events organized by Club La Santa, the Ironman stands out for the number of athletes it attracts, do they stay with you?
Very few stay at the Club, they usually stay in Puerto del Carmen. It benefits us during the year because they come to train or come to our training camps, but on Ironman day having to get up an hour earlier to leave with the bus from here puts many people off. And I am very happy for Puerto del Carmen, because we all know that May is a difficult month.
"Every morning since 1983 there has been a fifteen-minute gymnastics session with the same music and the same movements. We have tried to renew it sometimes, but there have been so many protests that we have had to return to the original"
- Have you not lost market share to new hotel facilities focused on sports tourism?
We have a lot of respect for the competition because we have our limits, but the truth is that either they have a 50-meter pool, or they have a few tennis courts, or they use facilities near the hotel... but as complete as we are there is nothing.
We were very respectful when the Playitas hotel opened in Fuerteventura and just as they had been spying here, we went to spy there too (laughs), but they don't have what we have. Also, we offer everything included.
There are other sports hotels here, but they are different, they have another clientele, which is usually of lower purchasing power.
- What does La Santa have that the competition does not?
All sports activities are included in the price. Classes, materials, such as rackets or bicycles.
We also have a very good long-standing relationship with many clients. To give you an example, every morning there is a fifteen-minute gymnastics session in which people gather around the tourist pool and it is exactly the same one that we started organizing in 1983, the same music and the same movements. We have tried to renew it sometimes and there have been so many protests that we have had to return to the original.
"We have our own travel agency in the United Kingdom, another in Germany and another in Denmark, which organizes two weekly flights from Copenhagen and Billund only for Club La Santa clients"
- How many sports can be practiced at Club La Santa?
There are 80 different disciplines, with about 500 classes and weekly activities, which in season reach 700. There are activities for all levels, we have a team of more than 60 instructors. Among our facilities we have 3 50-meter pools, a soccer field with natural grass, an athletics track and 6 paddle tennis courts.
We also have a stage in the center of the hotel where we organize dance, singing, theater, tap dancing performances with proposals from the clients.
- What are the most popular sports?
What they comment most in our questionnaires is that they want more paddle tennis courts, although we have six. Crossfit is also very popular, as well as pilates, yoga and cycling, we organize the cycling tour of Lanzarote.
"One or two days a week our instructors go for a walk with the clients to collect garbage around the hotel and the lake"
- How many rooms does the hotel have, and what percentage of occupancy does it register?
We have 390 three-star apartments and 96 four-star suites that opened in 2014. We can have up to 1,750 people. The occupancy normally averages around 90%, but we often reach 100%, which should be impossible, because many clients, in order to stay, do not mind changing category some days.
We have a own agency in the United Kingdom, another in Germany and another in Denmark, which organizes two flights a week from Copenhagen and Billund only for Club La Santa clients, that's almost 400 people every week.
- As a successful company, how does Club La Santa contribute to society and the environment?
We are part of the Hotels Amigos de UNICEF alliance, we collaborate with Flora acoge, Cruz Roja, Calor y Café, Tapones Solidarios, Fundación Seur, Acción contra el Hambre...
We are working to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations for 2030 and we participate in the Glasgow agreement on sustainable tourism. We have water production facilities, solar thermal energy, geothermal energy, photovoltaic energy, and to reuse gray water.
One or two days a week our instructors go for a walk with the clients with tweezers and bags to collect garbage from the area around the hotel and the lake. A few years ago – the owners – The Krogager Foundation – donated life jackets – which have been placed on the coasts of Lanzarote.
- How does La Santa's food adapt to the needs of athletes?
We include a lot of pasta and vegetables. Our Atlántico restaurant adapts to them, but it varies a lot during the year. There are times when we have school groups, others when we have families, others with professional athletes.
In the area of the new suites, we have the El Lago restaurant, open all day, with à la carte options and sports brunch. There is also La Plaza, which opens at night and has pizza, take-away food and sushi one day a week.
Then there is the Sports Café, which opens at night to watch sporting events and has an exhibition of all the world and Olympic champions who have visited us. We also have a food truck with smoothies and sandwiches, the pool bar and the green bar.
