The hotel and extra-hotel accommodations in the Canary Islands concluded the first nine months of this year with a total of 70.8 million overnight stays, still 3.6% lower than the figures recorded during the same period in 2019, which serves as the pre-pandemic reference year. However, the gap is gradually closing when compared to previous periods analyzed by Ashotel’s Tourism Competitiveness and Sustainability Observatory, utilizing data from the Tourist Accommodation Survey of the Canary Islands Statistics Institute (Istac).
Among the islands, Fuerteventura stands out with the most significant performance, boasting a 3.2% increase in overnight stays compared to the first nine months of 2019. Tenerife also marginally exceeds pre-pandemic data with a modest increase of +0.01%. In contrast, the other islands registered negative trends in this indicator, with the most significant decline being recorded in La Palma at 47.9%.
Following in decreasing order are La Gomera (-23.2%), El Hierro (-22.8%), Gran Canaria (-10%), and Lanzarote (-0.9%). Besides overnight stays, the evolution of other key indicators provides insight into the sector’s status, surpassing 2022 figures, which was a transitional year due to the gradual lifting of travel restrictions from the fifth month onward. Therefore, 2019 remains the benchmark year.
Regarding the number of travelers accommodated in collective tourist establishments, the Canary Islands concluded the first nine months of 2023 with 10.3 million visitors, representing a 1.8% increase compared to the same period in 2019 when it recorded 10.1 million visitors. In terms of overnight stays, the figures for these first nine months of 2023 surpass those of the same period last year on all the islands except El Hierro, which experienced a decline of 5.8%. A similar pattern is observed in terms of accommodated travelers, except for La Palma (-1.3%) and El Hierro (-7%).
In September, the average occupancy rate per bedplaces across the Canary Islands was 71.2%. Lanzarote had the highest average occupancy rate (75.6%), followed by Tenerife (73.6%), Fuerteventura (73.2%), Gran Canaria (66.8%), La Gomera (51.3%), La Palma (42.4%), and El Hierro (35.6%). The figures for the green islands remained consistent with the occupancy rates seen in the previous September.
Additionally, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported a 4.16% increase in overnight stays in hotel establishments in the Canary Islands for September compared to the same month last year, marking a positive shift from previous negative trends, with a total of 5,835,103 operations.
