TUI expects to bring 1.3 million tourists to the Canary Islands this summer

TUI Group held a meeting with the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands to talk about the expectations regarding the summer season in the archipelago.

The meeting took place between the regional counselor, Yaiza Castilla, and 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 for the Canary Islands, 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 they will have more business in summer than in winter on the islands.

According to TUI, the group anticipates that during the summer season they will bring 1.3 million tourists to the Canary Islands, the same figure as before the pandemic, although with significant changes since these visitors will stay on average 1 more extra night compared to the pre-pandemic period (10.5 nights average holidays versus 9.5 nights pre-pandemic) and they will spend 20% more on average on their holidays, as many people are looking to book 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 the financial director of TUI.

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 in Ukraine. 

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 shipping companies with 16 ships, 1,600 travel agencies and a workforce made up of more 70,000 employees, of which 1,000 are in the Canary Islands, where the tour operator has 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 in the archipelago .