Five American journalists learn about the island’s tourism offering these days from Turismo de Tenerifean organization dependent on the Cabildo. These 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 Tenerife with the aim of making them known to potential travelers through their publications.
The vice president and advisor of Tourism of the insular Corporation, Lope Afonso highlights that “the United States is confirmed as a preferred destination for Tenerife”. «The link with this issuing market has been reinforced with various actions through attendance at fairs and the intention to expand the air route that currently connects Tenerife South with New York. In recent years, the number of visitors has increased by up to 76% compared to the time before the pandemic. We seek to consolidate this market », he details.
The CEO of Tenerife Tourism, Dimple Melwani, highlights “the work of positioning the destination in the US market, achieving an increase in results that manages to capture interest in Tenerife through knowledge of its potential.” Melwani adds that “the objective is to continue advancing in this field, consolidating the commitment of the airline United Airlines with its flight straight to Tenerife, reactivating passenger traffic to the Island.
ANDThe program includes 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; 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.
«Visits from Americans have increased by 76% after the pandemic»
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, the professional meeting of the most important association of luxury travel agents in the world and which It brings together more than 5,000 attendees every year. This is one of the promotional actions 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 the 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 United States but from more than 50 countries in America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The agenda was completed with more than 100 meetings with leaders of tourism companies.
The North American market shows a progressive interest in Tenerife, which is reflected in the statistics of recent months. Thus, in the first seven months of this year, 18,535 North 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.
«We want to expand the air route that connects the Tenerife South airport with New York»
Tenerife has received more than 350 journalists, travel agents and tour operators from around twenty markets in the first half of this year., professionals who contribute with their visit to the promotion of the destination in a strategy that also includes other actions such as the assistance of the Island, through Tenerife Tourism, to fairs and events abroad. Lope Afonso explains that in this first half of the year, «Tenerife Tourism has continued with its dynamic activity of promoting the destination, through different formulas, both with the presence in Tenerife of personalities, influencers and journalists, as well as the pulse of others. segments that are a priority object of promotion, especially fairs and conferences.
Specifically, a hundred journalists, influencers and bloggers from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, the United States, France, Holland, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic have come. Discovery Channel, Le Figaro, Czech national television, windsurfer Sarah Jackson and Meg Pier, editor and founder of the website People Are Culture (PAC) have been in Tenerife to publicize the Island’s offering. All of this, in addition of the visit of around thirty press officers from the Spanish Tourist Offices abroad. In the case of travel agents, the number of those received in the first half of 2023 exceeds 250 from Germany, Australia, Belgium, Canada, South Korea, United States, France, Holland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel , Italy, Luxembourg, Poland or the United Kingdom, in addition to Spain.
