Tuesday, July 22, 2008

This Summer's Trends in Tenerife

So much for the island's new upmarket, 5 star hotel image, as Europa press report that bookings this summer reveal that tourists are maintaining their length of stay, but are opting for cheaper hotels.

No surprises there. People are looking for ways to stretch the budget in the current climate.

If you're watching the pennies too, take a look at Andrea Montgomery's article on Getting Your Pound's Worth of Tenerife. One of the best ways, being to get out of the hotel complex (so a cheap one does the trick if all you need is a place to sleep.) Getting out of the resort areas is the best way to avoid "special tourist prices" (go and see something real instead), though they probably aren't as high as the prices for tourist attractions in London.

What's London got to do with it? Well, likewise, Londonist say, "... it's only a rip off if your idea of a good holiday involves posing with waxworks of Kylie or poking about Queen Liz's smalls." In Tenerife, you'll only think prices are high if you stick to things specially laid on for a (voluntarily) captive clientele.

Tourist numbers still up, despite economic woes

Tourist activities in the Canary Islands generated 12,007 million euros (around £95.3 million) in 2007, providing almost a third (28.3%) of the islands' gross domestic product (GDP) and 33.2% of the region's employment.

At the same time, we learn that the number of foreign tourists received in Spain during the first half of 2008 was 26.6 million, a 2.6 percent increase on the same period last year. The Canary Islands was again the second most visited region of Spain (after Catalonia), with 4.7 million tourists in total.

The United Kingdom continues to be where the largest number of visitors hail from, sending 7.3 million tourists (27.5% of Spain's total) to the country so far this year. Germany is in second place, sending 4.7 million visitors.

Tourists Become Increasingly Unplugged

Interestingly, the article tells us that, between January and June, for the majority of international visitors - 18.4 million of them (69.4%) - the tendency is slightly increased (by 7%) for visitors to avoid packaged holidays, but to organise their own trips and book hotels, flights and extras separately.

Nevertheless, 20minutos report that Tenerife has dropped to 7th place on the British tourists' list of Top 10 holiday destinations this year.

Again, looking for something more economical this year:

In top slot is Dalaman (the airport gateway to Turkey's south west corner and to resorts such as Marmaris, Fethiye and Dalyan), followed by Mallorca, Crete, Bodrum, the Algarve, Cyprus, Tenerife, Costa Blanca, Sharm el-Sheikh and, Rhodes.

That works during the summer, whilst those destinations offer good weather, but when you want a getaway in winter, you'll find that the Canary Islands are the nearest and cheapest destination that offers sunshine. You'll be back!