Valois street, Familia de Betancourt y Molina avenue, the Lago Martiánez area, Plaza del Charco… A quick walk through Puerto de la Cruz is enough to feel that the city is recovering its tourist pulse. It was everything in this sector for decades, it descended to hell with a tourist plant that was outdated, it began to rebound and the tourist zero of the covid finished it off. Today the sensations are good both on the street and in figures. The latest data from the Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Ashotel) show an employment growth of 20 percentage points between January and June, from 46% to 66%. The North of the Island as a whole also closed the month of July at 69%, another piece of hopeful data.
“I’m not from here, but it seems that there are a lot of people,” said Antonio, a tourist from Manresa who was walking around Lake Martiánez, one of the great magnets for visitors to the Port, on Tuesday. «I came with my wife to spend a few days. I just retired and we wanted to return to Tenerife, where we had already been », he indicated. A waiter from a nearby cafeteria spoke in similar terms: “You see movement. This was dry after the worst time of the covid, but it seems that now things are picking up steam again. For everyone’s sake, I hope it stays that way.”. Santiago Medina also agreed to give his opinion: «I am from Santa Cruz and I came to a meeting with a relative. And what impression do I have? Well, there are quite a few people on the streets, really.”
Circumstances helped yesterday. Summer, August, a radiant sun, the sea that invited you to bathe… From the town halls the situation also looked positive. “The data speaks for itself in terms of the occupation of the first semester, and in July it was possible to verify and experience that the revitalization of the city brings with it success not only in accommodation, but also in opportunities for economic development,” said the mayor. portuense, Marco Gonzalez. The local councilor highlighted the 40,000 people who attended Cook Music and the 20,000 who were on the Virgen del Carmen boat.
“The hotel and non-hotel establishments of Puerto de la Cruz continue on the path of tourist recovery and increased their occupancy level per bed from 46% to 66% between January and June of this year, less than 5 points from the closure of June 2019 (70.8%), pre-pandemic reference year, and slightly more than two points above the average for the Canary Islands in this same period, which was 63.8% and even above the average for Tenerife (65.6%)”, Ashotel stated last week in a note. “This positive evolution marks the path in the Canarian municipality, the cradle of international tourism, according to data analyzed by the Ashotel Tourism Competitiveness and Sustainability Observatory, which uses data from the Tourist Accommodation Survey of the Canary Institute of Statistics (Istac)” , they added from the bosses.
When analyzing the current situation, González focused on the importance of offering “experiences” in destinations. “There is a clear commitment to making Puerto de la Cruz a cultural destination and it is bearing fruit: an opportunity for promotion every time something happens in the city, but, above all, for the well-being of those who are part of it as a spectator” continued the mayor, who stressed that attempts have been made to improve the environment and that the business sector has been “very up to the task”.
Ashotel agreed with Marco González on the importance of the cultural factor. «Between May and June of this year, in fact, the percentage curve of hotel occupancy is almost 10 points, going from an average of 56.3% in May to 66.05% in June. Among the causes that support this good behavior is not only the general recovery situation that the Canary Islands and Tenerife are experiencing as destinations, after the end of the restrictions due to the pandemic, but also the revitalization of the city, which has opted to maintain, with the pertinent security measures, an attractive offer of leisure and complementary culture, “said the entity.
The Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Santa Cruz de Tenerife had indicated in its note specific reasons and, in particular, the municipality’s commitment to cultural proposals of various kinds. These, Ashotel raised, allow, for example, occupancies close to 90% on weekends such as July 22 to 24, which was the culmination of the Cook Music Fest, a festival that for 17 days offered different concerts and shows for public very diverse. “Puerto de la Cruz has followed the strategy of turning the destination into a cultural and creative ecosystem. Examples this year of this cultural program are the Mueca Festival, the already mentioned Cook Music Fest, the Canarias Jazz or, at the end of this month, the Phe Festival or Veranos del Taoro, the latter newly created around indoor theater fresh air. All this energizes the city and also attracts a local public that increases tourist spending », he added.
Regarding overnight stays, the municipality registered 1.95 million overnight stays in the first half of the year, -27% compared to the same period in 2019, but an increase of 547% compared to 2021. «Although overnight stays have decreased percentage-wise more than the average of the Canary Islands, the truth is that in relation to the travelers staying (a total of 331,682 in the first semester), the variation compared to 2019 is much less pronounced percentage-wise (-15.6%), which means that the quintessential tourist destination in the North of the island has managed to reactivate its appeal among visitors to Tenerife”, they encrypted from Ashotel thanks to the data they have with their Observatory of Tourism Competitiveness and Sustainable Development, a platform for surveillance and intelligence Of the entity.
