The figure of tourist packages for next summer is maintained.

In spite of the Turkish threat and the bank failures that have affected its connectivity with the European continent, Canarias resists this 2018 in the German issuing market. This is indicated by the data collected at the ITB Berlin fair that takes place this week. In fact, “the German market maintains the number of hiring of travel packages to the islands for this summer despite the loss of connectivity caused by the bankruptcy of the airline Niki, which operated 250.000 spaces with the Canary Islands”, recalled the Canarian government. In this sense, the contracting of travel packages from Germany to the Canary Islands for the next summer season is maintained at a similar figure than last year and up to January have been 33.000 packages, according to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Isaac Castellano.

Speaking to the media yesterday during the ITB fair, Isaac Castellano said: “We come from the best tourist year in our history, when 16 million tourists visited the Canary Islands, of which 3.1 million were German, with an increase of 3,4 % “. And in the face of 2018, adds the Minister of Tourism, “we have important challenges such as the loss of connectivity resulting from the bankruptcy of Niki and on the other hand the rise of important competitor destinations such as Turkey, Greece or Egypt, which will undoubtedly produce adjustments in the market”. See also The German TTOOs increase capacity in Turkey in the face of double demand. To face these challenges, the Canary Islands trust in the high level of repetition of their tourists (76%), their segmentation strategies and the possibility that the offer of air spaces will gradually recover.

Objective: to recover aerial positions

“In fact, we are detecting several thousand international tourists who come to the Canary Islands, making stopovers in the Peninsula and even in Portugal, which shows that there is a demand for squares,” sources from the Tourism Ministry point out. In addition, says the director himself, “already begin to have movements for the summer of companies like Germania, Tuifly, Condor, Eurowings or Ryanair that have increased their offer to the Canary Islands compared to last year to compensate for the lost seats with Niki.”

Competitive destinations

Regarding the rise of competing destinations and their aggressive prices to regain market share, Isaac Castellano states: “We offer the best climate in the world, security and first-class hotel facilities.” The aspiration is to remain competitive with fixed prices the market”. In any case, the Minister of Tourism also recalled that “in the last three years, the private money allocated to the renovation of hotels, etc., has reached 1.444 million euros, which is a guarantee of maintenance in the future” . Canarias has attended the ITB in Berlin with a pavilion of 750 square meters “which reflects the commitment to the strategy of customer diversification, showing the different communication platforms aimed at customer segments with specific motivations”, highlights the managing director of Promotur Tourism of the Canary Islands, María Méndez. More than 150 Canarian companies are present in the pavilion of the region in the ITB.

Source: Hosteltur – 08.03.18