The president of the Canary Islands, Angel Victor Torresmet on the morning of this Wednesday, February 16, 2022, at the Presidency headquarters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, with the Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Spain, Hugh Elliott and the vice-consul in Tenerife, Helen Keatig. He was accompanied by the regional councilor for Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Yaiza Castilla, and by the deputy councilor for Foreign Action, Juan Rafael Zamora. The appointment has served to analyze the evolution in the arrival of British tourists to the Islands in recent years and, above all, “the very positive perspectives” that, according to the head of the Canarian Executive in the subsequent appearance before the press, They open in this 2022 so that the Archipelago recovers a large part of the data of British visitors and other origins prior to the COVID pandemic.
These good prospects make Torres reiterate today the forecast that, by the end of 2022, the Canary Islands will return to 90% of the visitor numbers of 2019 this year, with which the arrival of British can once again exceed five million annually. , compared to 1.2 arrivals during the years 2020 and 2021.
Torres appreciates the “permanent empathy” of the British ambassador with the Canary Islands, “who is always at the side of any need that the Islands have, with phone calls or with his physical presence.” “In all these months of the pandemic -he added-, we have shared decisions on opening or closing borders and restrictions, but now, in February 2022, the circumstances are different: the sixth wave in Europe and the Canary Islands is breaking down, with clear numbers. In addition, we have managed to eliminate the requirement of a complete vaccination schedule for British children and all this means that the prospects for this February and for the following months are very positive, apart from the fact that there are very encouraging data on reserves for this market and others”.
The president hopes that this line of recovery and normalization will be the trend throughout the year with the most important market for the Canary Islands, “a country with which we have centuries of relations, tradition, business collaboration and of all kinds”. Despite the shared optimism, Torres warned that everything depends on there not being a new wave of the coronavirus that weighs down this recovery and that the global socioeconomic and strategic context also helps.
Hugh Elliott He also welcomed the good prospects “because tourism is reviving and returning to the Islands, which is very positive.” In line with Torres, the ambassador highlighted the excellent relations between the British and Canary Islands, “a bond that has lasted for centuries”, and hopes that the effects of the pandemic and Brexit will begin to disappear if this recovery is confirmed, while knowledge about the new border regulations is perfected. Elliot stressed that they have always understood, respected and explained the restrictions adopted by each country and region to prioritize health in the face of COVID and that, now, they celebrate the opening decisions that will promote activities such as tourism.
3.9% more plane seats for this winter season compared to 2019-20
In 2018 and 2019, the arrival of British tourists to the Canary Islands stood at five million, while in 2020 it fell to 1.17 and, in 2021, to 1.28. This implies a decrease of 77.9% (about 3.65 million less), a situation that, however, everything indicates that it will not be repeated at the end of 2022. Instead, it is expected to return to figures similar to the pre-pandemic ones.
For this winter tourist season, which ends at the end of March, the Canary Islands had 2.16 million plane seats from the British Isles, which represents 3.9% more than in the same period of 2019-20 (before the COVID), which shows the recovery that is taking place, although there have been cancellations since December due to the sixth wave and the impact of the omicron variant.
