Fewer and fewer Germans travel to the Canary Islands. In the first quarter of 2023, the Spanish holiday islands recorded a decline of almost ten percent compared to 2019, the last year before Corona. One island in particular stands out: Gran Canaria. Of the 71,000 missing German tourists in the Canary Islands, 50,000 are in Gran Canaria. This is reported by “Tenerife News”.
Gran Canaria is running out of tourists
According to this, the total number of tourists on Gran Canaria has decreased, but that of Germans in particular. But more Britons are currently being drawn to the sunny islands. Twice as many Brits as Germans vacationed on Gran Canaria in March. In total, almost ten percent more British holidaymakers came to the Canary Islands by March than before the pandemic.
Experts attribute the declining figures primarily to a backlog of renovation and investment. Tourism expert Antonio Garzón, for example, said “Inforcasa”: “There was no management in San Bartolomé. There are problems with the beach bars and sun loungers and the shopping centers are deserted. There is a lack of management and the tourists see that and don’t come back.”
Holiday island with investment backlog
He also complains that there are no options for visitors with restricted mobility to go down to the beach: “Many of the visitors are older people with mobility problems.” Garzón is certain that the problem is not due to the countries of origin of the tourists per se – otherwise In his opinion, all the Canary Islands would lose visitors and not just Gran Canaria. He sees a major weakness in the quality and quantity of services on the island.
In contrast to Gran Canaria, the neighboring island of Tenerife seems to be in the fast lane. For the first time, more German tourists were counted there than on Gran Canaria – in March the island had 85,465 holidaymakers from Germany, while on Gran Canaria there were almost 400 fewer.