The second day of the Fitur International Tourism Fair, which is being held this week in Madrid, has highlighted the growing interest in the island as a destination. The airlines and tour operators with which the Tenerife delegation has held meetings today have confirmed an increase in air seats with Tenerife both in the national and international markets in 2022, which adds to the growing interest among travelers from higher purchasing power.
The president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín, points out that “if everything works together in 2022, we can register a good tourist season. Not only do we have a good perspective in terms of quantity, but we are also verifying a substantial improvement in quality, both in the air seats that connect with the destination and in the profile of the tourist, based on the tools that we have in Tourism of Tenerife for the analysis of searches in reservation portals”.
Among the meetings on this day, those held with Air Europa, Iberia Express, Avoris, Vueling, Viajes El Corte Inglés or World to Meet stand out. Air Europa has transferred its forecast of increasing capacity to Tenerife on the two routes it currently has with the national market from the island, such as Madrid and Bilbao, with the aim of approaching the capacity it had in 2019. During the past year, Air Europa has already traced the air traffic figures registered in 2020, with an increase of 17.9%; and in the summer season this year it will offer almost 200,000 seats (196,149).
In the case of Iberia Express, the commitment to the island is evident in 2022 in a 12% increase in seats compared to the year before the pandemic, 2019, on the routes that this airline operates to Tenerife (to the airports of the North and South) from the capital of Spain. Specifically, and only in the summer season of this year, which will last from April to September, it will offer up to 625,000 places in both connections. It will do so with planes with “greater capacity” than the current ones and “more sustainable”, according to those responsible for the company itself at the meeting.
Vueling will join the routes it already maintains to the island from the national destinations of Alicante, Bilbao, Granada, A Coruña, Oviedo, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Valencia, Zaragoza, Barcelona and Malaga, as well as the international ones from Copenhagen, Lisbon, Porto and Paris-Orly, one more, from the Dutch airport of Amsterdam-Schiphol, with two weekly frequencies.
The Island Director of Tourism of the Cabildo, Laura Castro, points out, for her part, that today at Fitur has allowed “in addition to holding meetings with the tourism industry present at the fair, supporting the presentation of the strategy of the different municipalities of the island, since the uniqueness of each city and town of Tenerife is important to the Cabildo, which helps us to build a diverse destination strategy, expand the destination’s tourist offer and promote joint lines of work” . Castro adds that “in the same way, we have been supporting the presentation of major sporting events, which are a value and a great attraction for the destination.”
The CEO of Tourism, David Pérez, emphasizes the increase “in the quality of the tourist who will visit us due to the repositioning work that we have carried out in recent years and due to the promotional actions carried out”. In line with what the president pointed out, he points out that “for this reason, we are sure that we will attract tourists not only with greater purchasing power during 2022, but also responsible travelers committed to sustainability.”
Starting tomorrow, when the exclusive days aimed at professionals conclude, the days in which the general public can access the fair begin. At the Tenerife stand, specialized personnel will offer all the information about the destination and its tourist resources: nature, outdoor activities, gastronomy, accommodation infrastructure, etc. It is a space integrated into the Canary Islands stand together with the other islands of the archipelago and where, in addition, there are touch panels that allow users to directly search for information that is of interest to them and explore what the island offers them for some Holidays.
