The Villa de La Orotava recovered in August visitor numbers typical of previous years to the pandemic of covid-19. The Municipal Tourist Information Office, located in the old Miranda Bookstore, served 3,442 tourists last month, 133 more than in the same month of 2018 and more than double that in 2020. In August 2021, the equivalent of passed through this service 22% of all visitors last year.
Among the 3,442 tourists attended in this office, which are only a part of those who decide to visit La Orotava, the majority presence of visitors from different parts of Spain stands out again, with a total of 2,877, followed by 321 French, 69 Germans , 22 English and 153 of other nationalities. As it already happened in 2020, the presence of Spaniards is imposed, who were almost 47% last year. The 7,246 national tourists attended a year ago have represented a change in trend, since the usual thing was that foreigners were the overwhelming majority.
It has also been a novelty that the second most important market for La Orotava in times of pandemic has been the French, with 2,388 visitors, almost 14.5% of the total in 2020. It maintains its importance so far in 2021 and, since In 2011, the number of French tourists who came to La Orotava did not stop growing. His best year so far was 2019, with a total of 7,000 visitors arriving at the Villa from the Gallic country.
These good visitor numbers coincide with a change in the location of the Municipal Tourist Information Office, that in March 2021 he moved from the ground floor of the Teobaldo Power Auditorium to the house where the sculptor and image maker Fernando Estévez (1788-1854) was born and, later, the historic Miranda Library was located, founded in 1900 and closed since 2008.
This small tourist office, which has already improved accessibility from Carrera del Escultor Estévez street, has a counter that facilitates care for people with reduced mobility or hearing problems. It offers a very visual tour of the main attractions of La Orotava, with numerous images and a calendar with the landmarks that the Villa offers in each of the twelve months of the year, with special emphasis on the CittaSlow seal, which advocates enjoying the local attractions without haste, and the offer of self-guided routes.
A decrease of 63% in 2020
The Municipal Tourist Information Office of La Orotava served 15,453 tourists throughout 2020, 63% less than in 2019. That year 42,501 tourists came to the office to obtain information on the town. In the first two and a half months of 2020, the influx of visitors remained stable: 3,283 in January, 4,167 in February and 1,595 until March 14, when the harsh confinement due to the pandemic began. April and May were months of zero tourism until the activity recovered to decline again in the last months of the year: June (89), July (798), August (1,695), September (1,044), October (1,139), November (887) and December (756). The year 2021 began with a relatively positive trend with 633 visits in January and 951 in February, but the summer has marked a turning point and the August figures already invite us to think about the recovery.
