SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León, stated this Tuesday in the Parliament of the Canary Islands that the data on tourist activity for next winter is “very positive”, with almost 10 million airline seats scheduled for the islands, and an increase in reserves.
“From the Ministry we face the future of the sector with optimism from this beginning of the year in which the Canary Islands will continue to lead the tourism recovery,” said de León during his first intervention before the plenary session of the Regional Chamber.
In this way, he said that the winter season will maintain the positive trend that has been registered during the first half of 2023.
According to the counselor, for the winter season – which runs from November 2023 to March 2024 -, more than 9.6 million air seats have been scheduled to the Canary Islands, which is 7.6% more than a year ago and 33.5% more than in the winter of 2019.
In addition, the average price of hotel accommodation has increased by 25% compared to 2019, which translates into greater tourist spending at the destination.
“If these trends are consolidated, the Canary Islands could close 2023 breaking the tourist record it achieved in 2017, reaching 16.2 million visitors, and achieve, at the same time, a historic turnover figure, with 19 billion euros,” the counselor pointed out.
Although the data projected for this winter invites us to be optimistic, De León assured that the ministry does not forget “the risks that threaten” the main economic activity of the archipelago.
Among them, he referred to the difficult economic situation that Germany and the United Kingdom are going through, key markets in the Canary Islands, which are added to the entry of the Canary Islands into the emissions market as of January 1 and the increase proposed by Aena which, In his opinion, it will “raise the price of airline tickets for a consumer who is increasingly sensitive to the final price of their trips, reducing competitiveness compared to other destinations that are not subject to these taxes, such as Egypt or Tunisia.” .
Faced with the entry of the Canary Islands into the emissions market, De León wanted to take advantage of his intervention in Parliament to ask for the support of all parliamentary groups, in order to form a ‘common front’ before Europe that would ensure that the Canary Islands were exempt from these taxes, includes a note from the Ministry.
Before the parliamentary arch, the counselor highlighted that tourism generates 32% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Autonomous Community, 36% of all jobs in the archipelago and 35% of the total taxes collected.
For this reason, he pointed out that the sector will always find in it “a firm defender” and that it will work “not only to attract visitors, but more importantly, so that spending at the destination continues to grow and that tourism continues to be the main creator of social well-being of this archipelago”.
