Puerto de la Cruz received twice as many tourists in July of this year as the entire North of the Island the same month last year. This is demonstrated by data from the Canary Islands Statistics Institute (ISTAC), which reveals that 40,667 travelers, 13,377 foreigners, 18,221 nationals and 9,069 residents of the Canary Islands arrived in the municipality.
In 2020, the Tenerife Tourism data for zone 3, which ranges from Tacoronte to Isla Baja, point to a total of 21,307 people staying, of which the majority did so in Puerto de la Cruz since it is the town with more hotel and non-hotel establishments compared to the rest.
The truth is that 80% of the city’s hotels are open and of those that are closed, most will open between next month and December, confirms the Councilor for Tourism Development and Economic Progress, Carolina Rodríguez, who emphasizes that the establishments that are kept closed -which are a few- it will be to undertake reforms in the accommodation floor in order to improve the quality of its facilities, as is the case of the Saaj Maar -old San Telmo hotel-, the Turquesa and the new Valle Orotava hotel , among others.
According to Rodríguez, many hotels have opened with 80% occupancy, while others have opened with 40% with peaks of 70% and 80% on weekends.
Yesterday, the Botanical Hotel, the only five-star hotel in the city, returned to receive its first guests after more than a year of closure despite the fact that the reopening was scheduled for September 1, as announced on its Facebook page , and on Friday the Tigaiga, another landmark establishment in the city, will do so.
“It should be noted that having opted for the opening, those who have done so with a more modest reserve, has finally compensated them and the winter season, which is also the strongest for the city, is better faced having had a movement at all despicable in summer “, declares the mayor, who adds that there are hotels that handle” very respectable “figures that even reach the levels of 2019.
In July of that year, according to ISTAC, Puerto de la Cruz registered 89,176 travelers, which currently has half the number of tourists compared to two years ago, which was “exceptional” for the sector.
“We have taken risks and we have kept the engines at half throttle months ago and this, added to the work that has been carried out together with the tourism and hotel sector, which has given enormous samples of quality and professionalism, has allowed the tourist and economic recovery to arrive before to Puerto de la Cruz and that the municipality goes to the head in the Canary Islands ”, indicates the mayor.
“Keeping a city alive based on effort to carry out all social, cultural and sports activities and keeping the health balance has not been easy, but it has been fundamental in the management of tourist recovery”, he points out.
In this sense, the City Council has gone hand in hand with the tourism, business and commercial sector, endowing the city with a sanitary security seal, Safe tourism, which has guaranteed the safe management of public spaces.
The citizens of Porto have also had a lot to do with it “because they have shown individual responsibility, taking care of themselves and avoiding infections by Covid-19.”
Rodríguez recalls that Puerto de la Cruz was the first municipality that took out aid to the hotel sector with the 50% discount for garbage and the suspension of the occupation of public roads, in addition to specific fiscal measures that are still in force today. vigor.
Investments
Finally, the also first deputy mayor underlines the large volume of investments in the town and that she attributes to the fact that “significant interest has been maintained in the face of investors despite the pandemic and we will soon see the results.”
The CIT and Ashotel value the signs of recovery in the city
Proof that the city is recovering is that in July 2020, 212 people passed through the Tourist Information Center (CIT) while in the same month of this year, 346 were attended and so far in August there are already 274 travelers who have requested some type of information, indicates its president, Juan José Hernández. The vice president of Ashotel, Enrique Talg, values the “relatively good” level of occupancy and considers it important that infections do not rise “at origin or destination”, that vaccination guidelines and security measures are met to remain a destination sure
