New campaign for the 'anti-aging' effect of the Canary Islands

The department of Tourism have launched a new campaign called ‘Winter Is Coming’ to attract long-stay tourists to the Canaries sunshine this winter, from nine European markets: the UK, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

It is aimed at the ‘silver plus’ sector, which is people over the age of 55, who are the ones who have the most free time and disposable income to enjoy longer holidays and escape the cold.

The campaign is based on the hypothesis that the Canary Islands have ‘anti-aging’ powers and are "The Islands that lengthen life", so that the over 55’s can enjoy their time “in a place with the best climate in the world”.

During the presentation of the campaign, the Minister of Tourism for the Canary Islands, Yaiza Castilla, explained that, given the economic and social uncertainty that Europe is experiencing, the Canary Islands have decided to do "what we are good at, which is nothing more than promoting a more sustainable and safe destination for tourists”.

In this way, she said that the desire to travel remains intact and, in this context, "we have an unparalleled opportunity for tourists to consider extending their stay in the Islands during the winter".

The cost of living in cities in Europe is much higher than in the Canary Islands, in Munich, for example, the per capita income is higher, but the average prices are 50% higher than in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. On average, restaurants and food are 64% cheaper on the Islands than in the German city.

“It is clear that we have an opportunity to attract a source of additional wealth, employment, and prosperity to the Islands,” said Castilla. For this reason, "the campaign tries to show these markets something that no other destination can, eight affordable dream islands only a short distance away, with European standards and far from the energy crisis".

In addition, the Canary Islands are not starting from scratch when it comes to attracting these tourists, since they already receive 4.5 million visitors over 55 years of age a year, which is 34% of the annual total, who enjoy an average stay of 10.7 nights (compared to 9 nights for all other visitors) and spend 5.36 billion euros, 35.5% of the total income through tourist spending.

"We are aspiring to retain this age group of visitors and get them to extend their stay even more, and convert a percentage of these holiday ‘silver’ tourists into ‘silver plus’, which means that their stay reaches 55 nights on average."

In 2019, the Archipelago received 131,000 silver-plus travellers who in just two years increased their spending at the destination from an average of 2,866 euros per stay to 3,149. "It is clear that the silver economy represents a global opportunity in Europe that we must take advantage of to consolidate a more prosperous and sustainable tourism model," says Castilla.