The island’s minister of tourism, Alberto Bernabe, claimed that Tenerife is so “well positioned in the hearts and minds of British travellers” that they will continue to prefer the destination over others, even if there are cheaper alternatives.
Tenerife Tourism Corporation is to launch a new campaign in the UK next week to solidify the relationship between Tenerife and the British market, using the idea of extending a “#BigWarmHug” to British tourists and the trade, including a travel agent incentive to win a holiday to Tenerife.
Bernabe said: “We will tell the British that whether they are in the EU or out of the EU, they’ll never be out of our hearts.”
Agent are encouraged to download and print the #bigwarmhug logo from webtenerife.co.uk, and take a photo of themselves holding it use on social media (Facebook: @VisitTenerife / Twitter: @visit_tenerife / Instagram: @visit_tenerife).
The launch of the campaign comes just weeks after Tenerife’s tourist board revealed a 20.8% growth in UK visitor numbers during the first five months of the year compared to that of 2015.
Bernabe said he expects this growth to be maintained throughout 2016, meaning that two million British holidaymakers will visit the island over the course of the year, a new record for Tenerife. “The growth is huge, much bigger than we ever expected. Not even in our dreams did we think we’d experience such a high increase,” the minister told TTG.
Bernabe pointed to the repeat visitation levels from the UK – up to 79% - and the high visitor satisfaction scores – with Brits scoring the island more highly than visitors from any of its 15 other source markets – as further evidence of the “love story” between the UK and Tenerife.
The minister described this year’s unprecedented growth in arrivals as a “wonderful accident”, thanks in part to geopolitical issues facing other popular holiday destinations. But he stressed that the island would not expect the growth to continue at such a rate after this year, and nor could the island sustain it.
“We would be pleased to maintain 2016 numbers in 2017,” he suggested. “We are an island, with finite space and resources. We want you to be able to go to the beach and find a nice space to yourself, to go to Mount Teide and not feel crowded,” he added.
The surge in visitors had created problems for hotel capacity, he admitted. “All our hotels are going to be, if not fully booked, almost. There is always some availability, but hotels in general are quite full for the whole year,” he said.
While existing hotels are becoming fully booked for the summer months, new bed-stock is coming online soon, including music-themed Hard Rock Hotel Tenerife, scheduled to open in October.
Bernabe said that growing luxury accommodation is a strategic goal for the island, with existing properties also upgrading facilities to become five-star.
Hotels are not the only amenity undergoing development, with new excursions and activities being created to meet demands; Bernabe highlighted a new sunset stargazing tour as an example of a new excursion that is proving incredibly popular. Active tourism is also a significant growth area, he added, with the island hosting several high-profile sports events that are in-line with “the image we are trying to create”.
Bernabe said that hosting the recent Routes Africa event, attended by 200 air route development professionals, had been very successful. Tenerife hopes to position itself as an international hub for African airlines, either stopping over in Tenerife or as their final destination.
