SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, September 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Five American journalists are familiar with the island as a tourist destination these days thanks to the Cabildo through Turismo de Tenerife. The participating professionals collaborate in media such as USA Today, Esquire or Wine Enthusiast, among others, and for a week they have been able to discover the attractions of the destination with the aim of making them known to potential travelers through their publications.
The Vice President and Tourism Councilor of the Cabildo, Lope Afonso, has highlighted that the United States is confirmed as a preferred destination for Tenerife: “The link with the sending destination has been reinforced with different actions through attendance at fairs and the intention to expand the airline that currently connects Tenerife South with New York. In recent years, the number of visitors has increased by up to 76% prior to the pandemic. We seek to consolidate this issuing market.”
The CEO of Tenerife Tourism, Dimple Melwani, has highlighted “the work of positioning the destination in the North American market, achieving an increase in results that manages to capture interest in Tenerife through knowledge of its potential.” Melwani added that the objective “is to continue advancing in this field, consolidating the commitment of the airline United Airlines with its direct flight to Tenerife, reactivating passenger traffic to the island.”
The participants’ stay program on the island, which took place from the 9th to the 15th of this month, has included different visits and activities. They have had the opportunity to go hiking, enjoy cetacean watching in Los Gigantes, immerse themselves in our designations of origin with a wine tasting at Bodega El Lomo, visit a section of one of the largest volcanic tubes in the world, the Cueva del Viento , in Icod de los Vinos, or to learn about the history of Garachico and Puerto de la Cruz.
Among the journalists in attendance were Vicki Denig, a journalist specializing in wine and travel at Decanter, Departures, Food & Wine, Liquor.com and Wine Enthusiast; Rachel Belkin, majoring in travel, business, technology and lifestyle; John Sizemore, professional travel writer and photographer who has featured his work in the national artists’ showcase RAW; Jesse Scott, focused mainly on the gastronomic industry, with collaborations in media such as BBC, National Geographic Traveler, Lonely Planet, Time Out Miami, Thrillist or Travel + Leisure; and Katie Jackson, who writes about luxury travel, lifestyle and food for publications such as USA Today, Esquire and Outside.
VIRTUOSO TRAVEL WEEK
The presence of Tenerife in the North American country also favors the intensification of promotion, such as the attendance last August at the Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas. Thus, the Cabildo, through Tenerife Tourism, was present from August 12 to 18 at the Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, the professional meeting of the most important association of luxury travel agents in the world and which meets every year to more than 5,000 attendees.
This is one of the actions to promote the destination in the United States and Canada this year, which is reinforced with various joint campaigns with the North American tourism industry, from the airline United Airlines to the tour operator Avanti Destinations, through agency networks. Virtuoso and Signature Travel Network, or the tour operator and agency associations USTOA or ASTA.
Virtuoso Travel Week is an annual event that in this edition is allowing the representation of the island displaced to Las Vegas to have access to the more than 20,000 members, advisors and partners of Virtuoso, which includes hotels, resorts or airlines and luxury travel providers, not only from the US but from more than 50 countries in America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The island’s agenda in the North American city was completed with more than 100 work meetings with officials from tourism companies such as Strong Travel Services, Gobal Travel Collection, GSC World Travel, Aspire Lifestyle, Travelworld International Group, Travelink or YYZ Travel Group, among others.
The North American market shows a progressive interest in the island, which is reflected in the statistics of recent months. Thus, so far this year 2023 until July, a total of 18,535 American travelers entered hotel establishments and apartments in Tenerife, 21.8% more than in the same month of the previous year, and 76.8% more than in 2019, according to analysis by the Tenerife Tourism Research department carried out using data from the ISTAC Tourist Accommodation Survey.
