The expenditure made by cruise passengers who disembarked in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 2023 totalled €141 million, marking a 16% increase from 2022 and a 30% surge compared to 2019, as reported by the city council.
Santa Cruz welcomed over 3.2 million cruise passengers in 2023, representing a 15% increase from 2022 and a 31.5% rise from 2019, the year before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, as stated by the capital’s City Council in an official statement.
The council highlighted that these figures demonstrate the swift recovery of the economic sector post-pandemic, transitioning from a total annual expenditure of €58.2 million in 2021 to the €141 million spent by tourists during their visit to Santa Cruz in 2023.
Comparing the 2023 data to those of 2021, post the Covid-19 crisis, the Santa Cruz de Tenerife council noted an “exponential” advancement in tourism, surpassing even pre-pandemic levels.
“In the first two months of 2024, we have already reached spending levels not seen in the past six years, surpassing pre-pandemic figures,” they added.
The upward trend is expected to continue in 2024, with over 22,000 more tourists received in January and February compared to the same period last year.
The improvements in visitor numbers to Santa Cruz de Tenerife are also evident in hotel occupancy rates, reaching 71.4% in January and February 2024, the highest since 2017 (71.9%).
Over the span of four years, the number of cruise passengers disembarking in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has significantly increased, rising from 69,412 passengers in January and February 2021 to 620,858 during the same period in 2024.
