SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 13 May. (EUROPE PRESS) –
Tourism of the Canary Islands will focus on the unique and unknown experiences offered by the islands to attract peninsular tourists in summer.
The Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, and the Director of Communication Projects for the Final Client and the Tourism Professional of the Canary Islands, Elena González, presented this Friday the promotional campaign, valued at two million euros of Feder funds and with which 270 million impacts will be reached.
“The time we lost being locked up at home and not being able to travel due to mobility restrictions has caused travelers to be more open than ever to living new and different experiences,” Castilla explained during the press conference, hence the action focuses on communicating the lesser-known aspects of the islands, seeking to arouse the curiosity of travellers, an idea that also gives its name to the ‘landing page’ of this initiative, which will be curiosasislas.com.
“Always under the umbrella of good weather and the varied offer of sun and beach plus, we will also offer different experiential proposals, curiosities and lesser-known aspects of our archipelago, and we will do so by targeting different profiles of tourists with similar motivations, such as nature, culture or gastronomy”, added the minister.
11% MORE CONNECTIVITY
To attract these visitors, Castilla announced that the Canary Islands will have air connectivity 11% higher than in the summer of 2019, with 3.5 million seats from the rest of Spain from April to October.
This capacity represents 350,000 more seats than in the pre-covid period and a growth of 24.5% compared to 2021, which was already a summer with positive data regarding the peninsular market.
During the summer months, there will be regular connections with 24 national airports, the highest number reached to date, and all Canarian aerodromes will grow compared to 2019, with the exception of Tenerife Sur, which usually has more charter operations.
The counselor highlighted the high increase in the air capacity of La Palma, with an increase of 114.5% in seats, more than double the supply it had in the summer before the pandemic.
“We have more than enough connectivity to attract our national tourist, which is our third largest issuing market and which, in addition, shows a desire to travel higher than ever,” said Castilla, who clarified that, for the time being, Current macroeconomic determinants, such as inflation or energy costs, have not dampened this willingness to travel.
With the pandemic over and without mobility restrictions, it is foreseeable that trips to other Spanish regions and abroad will gain weight, although vacations outside the country will still take time to reach pre-pandemic levels.
“The Canary Islands could benefit from this desire to travel and occupy a preferential place, as it did last year, for all those who are looking for a safe destination with an exceptional climate,” Castilla assured.
The will is there, but now tourists enjoy their vacations in a different way.
For the counselor, “the health crisis has caused changes in the way of experiencing tourism that we cannot ignore because they affect us and, in some cases, represent an opportunity that we are already knowing how to take advantage of.”
CHANGES IN TRAVEL
One of these novelties is the advance with which a trip is contracted. According to data from the online tour operator ‘Trip.com’, in 2019 flights were purchased 53 days in advance, while last year tourists bought their tickets only 23 days in advance.
The same thing happened with the accommodation reservation, which went from 32 days in advance to just 10.
In any case, the minister clarified that this is a trend that will possibly disappear when the market stabilizes because, under normal circumstances, consumers prefer to book their holidays in advance.
The duration of stays has also changed, and is now longer.
“The fact that our visitors spend more days on our islands allows us to influence aspects that are highly relevant to our destination, such as reducing dependence on air connectivity, achieving a more sustainable consumption of resources and also a better distribution of the spending made by these tourists,” Castile assured.
According to an Airbnb report, trips of 28 days or more are the ones that are growing the most and tour operators also point out that packages with one more day of vacation are being contracted as a trend.
“These data reinforce the work that we have been carrying out for some time at Turismo de Canarias when it comes to diversifying our tourism segments and attracting long-stay visitors,” explained the Minister, who gave the example of a new hybrid formula, that of family trips in which adults telecommute.
Holidays with friends or family have also grown, motivated by the forced separation that confinement entailed during the pandemic.
According to a report by ‘American Express’, 79% of those surveyed are looking forward to traveling with their family and 58% opt for multi-generational trips and from ‘Booking.com’ they point out that 82% of tourists agree that traveling benefits your mental and emotional well-being more than other ways of taking care of yourself.
CURIOUS ISLANDS
The director of Communication Projects for the Final Client and Tourism Professional of the Canary Islands, Elena González, broke down the details of the campaign to attract peninsular tourists, which will run from May 19 to July 6, “the dates of maximum relevance for the reservations that, in the post-pandemic era and due to uncertainty, are no longer made so far in advance”.
Under the umbrella of the good weather and the varied offer of sun and beach plus, the conceptual axis is articulated based on the idea of curiosities and lesser-known aspects of the islands, which, together with impressive headlines, allows us to build a story of the brand enriched.
In addition, the audiences have been classified into various ‘tribes’ that bring together profiles with similar motivations, specifically nature, culture or gastronomy.
González explained that it is a ‘360 degree’ campaign, that is, it will activate all points of contact with the audience to ensure a significant level of impact.
The promotional action activates a powerful native advertising strategy, that is, adapted to the environment in which it appears, so it is not perceived as advertising and this allows the user to be impacted in a less intrusive way.
“We follow the most innovative advertising formulas, which allows us to integrate our Canary Islands brand and our messages in a natural and truthful way, within relevant and qualitative contexts,” said González.
From a creative point of view, the graphic line is multipurpose, that is, it adapts to each of the contents.
The campaign will be carried out in numerous and varied media: outdoor, television, radio, digital press, podcasts and social networks, activating creativity and unconventional formats that ensure notoriety in highly relevant contexts.
