The world’s largest tour operator, TUI Group, communicated on Thursday morning, to the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands. its strong commitment to the islands, confirming good expectations for the summer, with the arrival of tourists who will enjoy longer stays and spend more on vacations.
Regional Tourism Minister, Yaiza Castilla received the news, in a meeting held on Thursday morning, attended by the CFO of TUI Group, Sebastian Ebel; the CEO of Markets and Airlines, David Burling; and the director of Purchasing, Helen Caron, as well as the managing director of Tourism Board for the Canary Islands, Promotur, José Juan Lorenzo.
“The Canary Islands are a very reliable destination that has come out stronger, that has known how to do things well and that is better than before the pandemic,” explained Sebastian Ebel, who in fact announced that for the first time, this year, they will have more business in the summer than in winter on the islands.
The company’s finance director explained that they anticipate the summer season will bring 1.3 million tourists to the archipelago, the same number as before the pandemic, although with significant changes since these visitors will now on average extend their stay by at least one more day, going from 9.5 overnight stays to 10.5, and are spending 20% more on average on their vacations due to booking higher quality rooms. “The destination has been able to take advantage of these two years of tourist ups and downs to improve its facilities and its offer, and make higher-class establishments available to customers,” acknowledged Mister Ebel.
For Ebel, the work carried out by Turismo de Canarias has given rise to a destination that has all the necessary ingredients to be more successful than before the pandemic, even despite the war unleashed in Ukraine. “Although the war is turning out to be a nightmare, fortunately it is not having the expected impact on tourism as a whole, with the exception of countries like Poland or Finland, which are closer to the conflict,” he said.
TUI Group figures
TUI is the leading tourism group in Europe and one of the most important worldwide. It has a presence in more than 140 countries, has five airlines (TUI UK, TUI Netherlands, TUI Belgium, TUIfly (Germany) and TUI Nordic), 150 aircraft, three cruise ship companies with 16 ships, 1,600 travel agencies and a workforce made up of more 70,000 employees, of which a thousand are based in the Canary Islands, where the tour operator boasts 29 hotels.
The group has a greater presence in Germany and the United Kingdom, although it is also important in the Nordic countries and in central Europe.
With regard to the Canary Islands, in 2019, the pre-pandemic year, the five TUI airlines transported 2.5 million people to the Canary Islands from different European countries, which represented 14.2% of the total number of passengers arriving on the islands.
Regional councillor Yaiza Castilla meets with Chief Finance Officer of tourism giant, TUI, Sebastian Ebel, who announced that this summer season they plan to transport 1.3 million tourists to the archipelago, who will extend their stay, on average, by one more day and spend 20% more than before the pandemic
“TUI is fully aligned with our sustainability strategy, which is why we have created a working group to continue advancing together on this path with which we intend to increase the quality and not the quantity of our tourism”, explains Castilla.
“The Canary Islands are a destination that has all the necessary ingredients to be successful, even despite the war in Ukraine which, although it is turning out to be a nightmare, fortunately is not having the expected impact on tourist activity,” assured Ebel.
