«We have gained 100,000 German customers and a record turnover, even though Germany has not recovered»

-At what point is this market?

-Germany is at a turning point, after several years of economic and energy difficulties, not only due to the pandemic but with the addition of the conflict in Ukraine, and has ceased to be our main client, with the emergence of the British in recent years. exercises and the recovery of the Nordics, with which the Germans today occupy third position, with the visit of 819,660 German tourist clients during the year 2023. However, the improvement compared to 2022 is capital and in one year we have added almost 100,000 customers, which is equivalent to a market with the volume of Belgium, Italy or France. But the Germans, despite their economic problems, remain loyal to Gran Canaria and have us among their first vacation destinations, as proven by the fact that the presence of German clients is growing despite the fact that the traveling population of Germany in 2023 was 15 % lower than the traveling population of this country in 2019, so there are fewer departures.

-How does this situation affect the stability of the destination?

-It affects relatively little. Basically because the commitment we have made to market diversification is being a success and the specific fall or loss of some clients such as the Germans is replaced by those of other nationalities, since many markets are now at their historical maximum, such as the French, for example, with 65% more visits than in 2019. Our hotels are practically full. In short, the Germans have had a low moment after the pandemic, and they are finding it difficult to recover their economy, but they have recovered a part of it in the last year, compared to the 720,959 German tourists in 2022. This represents a significant increase and means that, with a total turnover of 806.6 million euros in 2023, we have managed to exceed pre-Covid income, despite the fact that both inflation and increased costs influence this variable. This German recovery has meant that the tourist destination on the island of Gran Canaria has closed the 2023 financial year with a historic turnover valued at 5,459 million euros.

-Do you understand that it is a priority for this market to recover its position and weight for the Gran Canaria tourism sector?

-Well, we understand that if it continues on this path, the German market will once again be our main client. Definitely. He is a very loyal customer to Gran Canaria. It is likely that in winter we will clearly be your first choice. But I sincerely believe that we have to stop measuring the success or failure of a season by the number of visitors. We have managed to leave behind the recovery process of recent years, with better numbers than one of the best years in our history, also from the constant comparison with the pandemic, and this means that we can now focus on working on the client typology, with the intention that the economy generated by the sector is increasingly greater, is better distributed throughout the island, and implies, as a priority element, the increase in customer spending and billing, which are priorities in our strategic plan. We have managed to exceed the pre-covid figure without the two priority markets. Diversification has allowed us to reduce great dependence and gives us guarantees against specific inconveniences.

-How do you assess the growth in turnover?

-I believe that we are in a historic moment. German tourist spending in Gran Canaria was 1,158,658,711 euros in 2023. The German market represents 21.19% of the total turnover of the island tourism sector. In 2019 it amounted to 21.89% of the total. Meanwhile, the average expenditure per tourist per trip is 1,638.59 euros, 31.84% more than in 2019 and 14.82% more than in 2022. Expenditure on accommodation alone is currently 777.28 euros , for the German client, with an increase of 33.95% compared to 2019 and 20.64% in the interannual comparison, as shown in the ISTAC statistics. Inflation influences, but it has been confirmed that our destiny is not being affected by this fact.

-What current issues concern the German customer?

-According to what our technicians and experts tell us, sustainability is an element of relevance in the present. We no longer talk about future hypotheses. Surveys indicate that 11% of these clients consider it important and look for quality seals in terms of sustainability when deciding where they stay. Furthermore, 74% of Germans point out that heat waves are already influencing their travel plans and 30% admit that they will move away from areas with heat waves and look for other colder places. We must value all the good things we do and have in this area, as well as our complementary offer, that of Active Tourism and Sports Tourism, which are two fields that are imposed on the youngest client and that are allowing us to rejuvenate the German customer profile.