The Canary Islands continue to stand out as a top-level tourist destination, with data showing an increase both in the number of tourists arriving in the archipelago and in the spending they make during their stay. This phenomenon reflects the quality of the visitor who chooses these islands as their vacation destination.. During the first three months of the year, each person spent on average around 168 euros per day, covering a wide variety of sectors such as restaurants, activities, shopping and hotels. It is important to note that this investment is distributed among numerous companies, mostly local, which also generates employment.
According to the report from the National Institute of Statistics, these data have marked a historic milestone, since this level of spending had never been reached before, exceeding 5.3 billion euros in just three months. This represents an increase of almost 10% compared to the last quarter of 2022 and, in addition, consolidates an upward trend by registering 45% more compared to the same period of the previous year.
Regarding the distribution of spending by islands, Tenerife leads with 38.5% of the total, followed by Gran Canaria with 30.5% and Lanzarote with 16.5%.
However, not only spending has increased, but also the number of tourists. During the period from January to March, the Canary Islands received more than 3.7 million visitors, which represents an increase of 1.43% compared to the figures for 2019, before the pandemic.
In terms of origin of visitors, the trend of previous years is maintained, with the United Kingdom being the main source market for tourists to the Canary Islands, who are also the ones that spend the most at their destination, representing 29.3% of total spending. They are followed by German tourists, with 20.6%, and an emerging market that has experienced a significant increase in recent months, that of the Nordic countries, whose spending on the islands during the first three months of the year represented 16%. of the total.
Despite the optimism of the tourism sector in the face of these data, some environmental groups are positioned against the mass tourism model and advocate a more sustainable approach that promotes the protection of natural spaces and proposes a moratorium on the construction of new hotel complexes. . Last Saturday, several environmental groups demonstrated on the seafront of Playa de Las Américas, one of the main tourist centers of the tenerife island.
