Canary Islands Tourism are launching a campaign in 14 markets to attract the ‘Winter Escapists’, European citizens who want to escape from the routine cold of winter, with 7 million seats to the islands available.
The British, who have always had the Canary Islands as a preferred destination, lead the sector in the Canary Islands, where they make up 35% of total visitors.
The 43rd edition of the World Travel Market will be held from November 7th to 9th in London, with an expected 5,000 exhibitors, 3,000 journalists and an overall attendance of 50,000 people. Canary Islands Tourism will be represented by more than 250 professionals belonging to 150 companies and institutions, 26 of which will have individual spaces at the market, with the aim of holding meetings with tour operators, travel agencies, airlines and representatives of the British travel industry.
“We are coming to the most important tourism fair in the world at a strange time. The recovery of the sector in the middle of a complex global socioeconomic climate mixed with pessimism amongst the population, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,” Yaiza Castilla, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Trade for the Government of the Canary Islands says. It is pessimism based on runaway inflation, the energy crisis and the feeling that there is always a new obstacle to the well-being and happiness of citizens, whether it is COVID-19 or war.
“Obviously, British citizens are no strangers to this situation. On the contrary, they have experienced more obstacles than the rest, as Brexit has caused instability in the UK, leading to the resignation of four prime ministers after the 2016 referendum, depreciation of the pound and rising rates of inflation, which right now is above 10%,” Castilla remarks.
Tourism from the United Kingdom, which has always been the leading market of the islands, suffered a significant setback during the pandemic due to the restrictions imposed by the British Government and those arising from Brexit, which led the UK to fall to third. However, “there was a pent-up desire to travel to the Canary Islands that materialized as soon as the restrictions were lifted. The British have always had the Canary Islands as a preferred destination and this year they have chosen us again,” Castilla points out. In fact, in the January-August period, they had already recovered “95% of the volume of tourists compared to 2019, once again placing them at the top for tourism in the Canary Islands, with a share of over 35%, compared to just over 15% in the German market,” the Minister stated.
An innovative and sustainable booth
The Canary Islands will attend the WTM with a 770-square-meter pavilion, with a striking design that this year will stand out for its 16 large aerial cubes, creating a strong visual impact, which will function as a showcase of what Canary Islands’ tourism has to offer, including audio-visual images of the eight islands will be projected. In addition, “our booth will once again make clear our firm commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, climate neutrality, the sustainability of the destination and the strategy of transformation towards a greener and more ecological tourism model,” explains Castilla.
This year, The Canary Islands has gone a step further and the booth has been designed under the principles of sustainability and reduction of the carbon footprint, which has been estimated at 267.4 tons of CO2, an amount that includes electricity consumption, air conditioning, transportation, accommodation and waste, and that will be included in the comprehensive compensation scheme to be developed for the three main annual fairs.
Winter Escapists
The new international campaign for the winter season will serve as a means to attract more European tourists and reinforce the strong commitment of airlines to the destination. For the winter months, the airlines have added 1.6 million more seats from various countries to the islands, which represents a 30.6% growth compared to the pre-pandemic winter, going from 5.3 million seats to 7 million.
The campaign will be launched on November 15th in 14 European markets under the title ‘Winter Escapists, welcome to the Canary Islands’. The Canary Islands want to become the ideal destination for all Europeans who need to escape, not only from the cold, but also from the harshness of the economic and socio-political situation and take a break from routine.
The campaign will have a multichannel plan, with a balance of digital and outdoor advertising, which will be complemented with TV weather spots in priority markets. This will include a collection of creative pieces in different formats and languages, adapting the messages to each medium. Thus, there is a spot that will be broadcast on online TV platforms and Youtube, and several shorter adaptations that together with ‘reels’ and ‘stories’ complete the social campaign.