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Saturday, November 19, 2005
Things might be looking up in Tenerife
Things are looking up, say the Canarian Weekly (via Tenerife Resorts) with the news that "September set a shining example for the Tenerife tourist trade with the number of foreign visitors up by nearly 10% on the same month of last year."
Tenerife welcomed 254,418 holidaymakers from abroad, making a total of 2,456,548 for the first nine months, according to Canarian Government statistics based on data from Spanish airports authority AENA. The archipelago as a whole played host to 684,194 foreign visitors to boost the running figure to 6,683,181.
If only it were that simple. The same article talks about 80% occupancy on cheap flights with prices starting at 59 Euros (that's around 40 quid). Of course this is great value for a roughly four hour flight, but what kind of clientele does this suggest?
Whilst I will avoid a long diatribe on the riffraff (chavs) that give the island a bad name, what does concern me is that it generally means people who do not spend a lot of money on the islands. Yes, we handle the numbers, but quantity does not equal quality. They do not contribute to the long-term profitability of the tourist sector.
