The best May for tourism in the last decade

[Michael]

So, the first five months saw fewer tourists but more income, and as I posted below, May itself was a superb month, the best May for ten years, but with the same general tendency to stay in better quality all-inclusive and 5* hotels. The message conveyed by what has been seen as a high-risk rebranding exercise might actually be getting out there: we are a quality destination for upmarket and wealthy tourists who have space to move ... and to spend. JA

There's that phrase again.  Great if you're a tourist but I wonder how much of the increased take filters past the coffers of the big hotels? 

[Janet]

not too much, I'd say, but the money's going back to the investors ... and it will keep businesses alive here, just not the typical Tenerife-of-the-past ones. Tourist bars and some restaurants will not get it, but suppliers will, hotel staff, cleaners ... all those areas where real Canarios work ... and they in turn will have wages to spend ...

The thing is, I think it was greatly overestimated how much money found its way into the real Canarian income from Brit bars and the like who all too often employed staff on the black, sold "British" produce, got friends to do airport runs ... I do have some info in this regard and the government thinks that the jobs and economy that are being lost in that sector won't cost the Canarian economy anything like would be expected from the closures.

I'm prepared to eat my words, and my hat, over this if they get it right. If they can turn us into some sort of African Caribbean, more power to their elbow!

[poker]

All very nice and good concentrating on the high end of tourists for the moment.

But the averige spending power of future tourists ( in 10 years and more ) is going to be a lot less then the spendingpower now thats a fact .
So howmutch are they looking into the future ?

[Janet]

Maybe that's why they're targeting the wealthy, P ... their money will be still there, and increasing, while the rest of us, the majority, get poorer and poorer ...

[poker]

What I mean is the numbers will go down .

Less wealthy peaple in numbers also in 10 years and more . . . .

[Guanche]

I see only two flaws in the government strategy of attracting the rich. Firstly the rich are fickle. This week the Canaries are in, next week its Cyprus or Mexico. Secondly the rich stay rich because they dont like to spend money. 

[Janet]

There's further confirmation that Tenerife has fewer but wealthier visitors and the Government's policy could be working. This time, too, it's confirmation not from the Government but from the Tenerife Cabildo, whose statistics show that in the first half of 2013 there was a drop of 1% in tourists visiting the island, but a rise of 9.5% in terms of occupancy for 5* hotels. Cabildo vice President and tourism minister (and future President of Tenerife) Carlos Alonso said that the luxury hotels were increasingly capturing the market, and that analysis of the figures showed that weakened demand – particularly among Spanish, German and French holidaymakers – is in the lower end of the market. There are detailed reports HERE for those who'd like to see the number crunching. JA

[Janet]

Spanish tourism figures show that there were 34m visitors to the country up to July this year, a rise of 3.9% from 2012, and a new record for the country. The figures come from analysis by Frontur (Movimientos Turísticos en Fronteras), of the Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo. In July alone there were 7.8m tourists, a rise itself of 2.9% on July 2012. The Scandinavian countries, together with the UK and Russia have led the surge, with German and French numbers holding up too. The good news for the Canaries is that  it is the third most successful autonomous region of Spain, with 5.8m tourists, 17.2% of the national total, coming behind only Catalonia and the Balearics. JA

[Janet]

The good news continues, and in a way that makes it clear that something positive is really happening. Last month, it seems, was the best August in tourism records, and not just that, but the month also closed with record tourist spending in the Canaries, some €1,002m, up 6.8% from August last year. So far in 2013, tourists have spent €7,241m, a rise of 7.6% on the corresponding period of 2012. The figures have come from the national Ministerio de Industria, Energía y Turismo. According to the statistics, the UK and Germany led the main tourist drive in August, with the British actually increasing their spending, up 5.1% from last year, while the German spend dropped 11.9%. JA

[Janet]

And still it continues. November's figures have "shot up" by 17.9% compared with the same period last year, and have broken all records. November 2013 has the best figures for November that have ever been recorded for this time of year, with 1,073,759 tourists, says the Ministerio de Industria y Turismo. Not only that, but this year's figures taken together show a new "historic maximum", with 9,591,419 visitors to the end of November, up 4% from last year. Turismo is jubilant that this year will pass into the record books in both these respects, and said that when figures for the whole of 2013 are released at the end of this month, it expects that another record will be broken in the number of visitors in a complete year - the current record is 10,210,000 in 2011. Good news for us all, and long may it continue! JA