Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Canary Islands are Third in the World for the Number of Tourists per Square Kilometer
In truth, this should come as no surprise whatsoever. The only two places to beat the Canary Islands in packing large numbers of visitors into small spaces - Malta and the Balearic Islands - are, obviously, also relatively small island destinations.
Nevertheless, it sounds like tourists are standing on each other's heads in a pyramid when the article talks about "levels of human pressure" and that the Canary Island archipelago packs in 1,409 per square kilometer. Against Malta's huge 3,446, this does not seem quite so sardine-like, until you remember that almost all the tourists in the Canary Islands are concentrated into small areas, but that the calculation of the average, no doubt, includes the 50% of the land surface that is not used.
The study did indicate that the majority of Canarian Beaches support levels of human pressure that are above European standards, which allows 6 square meters per tourist. (Despite which, it was difficult to find a picture of a really busy Tenerife beach.) The ratio of tourists to residents 5.19:1 is also only beaten by the Balearics, who have almost double that number. Another indicator of the pressure is building density, with resorts that have more than 19,000 beds per square kilometer.
What the Canary Islands can offer that differentiates them from other less visited and cheaper destinations, says the Government, are the health, transport and security that offer the European visitor a guarantee of modern assistance and quality.
Canarias es el tercer destino del mundo con más turistas por kilómetro cuadrado
Nevertheless, it sounds like tourists are standing on each other's heads in a pyramid when the article talks about "levels of human pressure" and that the Canary Island archipelago packs in 1,409 per square kilometer. Against Malta's huge 3,446, this does not seem quite so sardine-like, until you remember that almost all the tourists in the Canary Islands are concentrated into small areas, but that the calculation of the average, no doubt, includes the 50% of the land surface that is not used.
The study did indicate that the majority of Canarian Beaches support levels of human pressure that are above European standards, which allows 6 square meters per tourist. (Despite which, it was difficult to find a picture of a really busy Tenerife beach.) The ratio of tourists to residents 5.19:1 is also only beaten by the Balearics, who have almost double that number. Another indicator of the pressure is building density, with resorts that have more than 19,000 beds per square kilometer.
What the Canary Islands can offer that differentiates them from other less visited and cheaper destinations, says the Government, are the health, transport and security that offer the European visitor a guarantee of modern assistance and quality.
Canarias es el tercer destino del mundo con más turistas por kilómetro cuadrado
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