79.4% of tourists who arrived in 2017 stayed in hotels and apartments and 9.2% in holiday rental homes
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, Isaac Castellano, presented on Tuesday the update of the study “Vacation Rental in the Canary Islands: Demand, Channel and Offer”. The latest data show that in 2017, 79.4% of tourists stayed in hotels and apartments, 9.2% in holiday rental homes, 7.7% in family or friends’ houses, or other accommodations, and 2.3% in property owned.
Castellano said that the main objective of the report is to give continuity to the previous ones “in order to have an exact drawing that is useful to carry out the appropriate policies”. “Thanks to this new report,” the counselor continued, “we know that those who visit us endorse the tourism model established up to now and, although it is true that there has been an increase in the demand and the offer of holiday rentals, this does not occur in the same measure as in other territories, where this phenomenon has taken on dimensions that it does not have here, “he said.
The counselor insisted that we must continue working to find the best combination of all the tourist activities that occur in the archipelago, while ensuring the sustainability of the territory.
In comparative terms of the relative weight of each type of accommodation, while in 2016 80.8% of tourists stayed in hotels and apartments, in 2017 this figure fell to the aforementioned 79.4%. On the contrary, regarding the holiday home there was an increase of 0.6%, because while in 2016, 8.6% of tourists stayed in holiday rental homes, the figure reached 9.2% in 2017 Likewise, the number of tourists housed in the homes of family or friends and other accommodations also increased, from 7% in 2016 to 7.7% in 2017.
Of the 15,975,511 tourists who chose the Canary Islands in 2017 to spend their holidays, 1,468,144 chose these establishments to stay, which meant an increase of 13.76% compared to 2016, when this figure was 1,290,609 visitors (from the 14,981,113 tourists who visited the Islands). An upward trend that has slowed down compared to the increase that occurred from 2015 to 2016, when it reached 24.83%.
Taking as a reference a longer period, from 2010 to 2017, the percentage of tourists who have stayed in hotels and apartments has remained around the figure of 80%; On the contrary, the number of tourists staying in holiday rental homes has fallen from 10.3% in 2010 to the aforementioned 9.2% in 2017.
As for the spending on destination made by tourists who chose the holiday rental last year, this is estimated at 720,816,141 euros, out of a total of 17,764,292,842 euros, which is the expenditure made in 2017 all visitors received Canary Islands.
31,675 homes published
In terms of supply, the Canary Islands have gone from 29,931 holiday homes published in 2016 to 31,675 in 2017, that is, an increase of 5.83%. Less has been the increase in the offer of beds of this tourist modality, since it has gone from the 129,685 published in 2016 to the 131,032 of the previous year, a 1% more. Holiday homes accounted for 22.87% of the total regulated offer, slightly below 2016, when they accounted for 23.43%.
According to the data of the report, Tenerife is still another year the island that more beds of this tourist modality concentrated, with a total of 52,435 and 12,493 homes, which is 38.39% of the total offer of the Canary Islands. In second place is Lanzarote, with 24% of the total archipelago (25,934 beds and 6,096 homes).
On the contrary, the island that has the lowest percentage of beds with respect to the Canary Islands total is El Hierro, with 0.55% (1,028 beds and 265 dwellings). Interestingly, it is precisely El Hierro which has the highest percentage of holiday homes with respect to the total accommodation offer on the Island, with 39.71%, surpassing La Palma, which this year has a 32.51 %. Gran Canaria repeats again as the island that presents the lowest percentage with respect to the total offer of its accommodation, with 16.27% (27,461 beds and 6,889 homes).
With regard to 2016, the number of beds for holiday homes increases in five islands: especially striking is the increase in El Hierro, which has 1,028 beds, 42.47% more; La Gomera has 2,214 beds, which represents an increase of 17.37%; Gran Canaria offers 27,461 beds, 13.23% more; Fuerteventura has 16,731 beds, 10.64% more; and, finally, Tenerife has 52,435 beds, an 8.17% more than in 2016.
Lanzarote and La Palma are the only two islands in which the number of beds for holiday homes falls: in the first there are 25,934 beds, 7.85% less than in 2016, while in La Palma there are 5,230 beds, 2% less.
As for the average price per home and night in the archipelago, it was almost one hundred euros in 2017, specifically 99.98 euros. Lanzarote is the most expensive island, with 106.67 euros per home and night, while El Hierro offers the most affordable price, with 54.10 euros per home and night.
Digital platforms
The channel through which the vacation home is sold is another of the analyzed aspects, from which it is revealed that Airbnb and Homeway regain most of the market share, with 55.79% of the total (slightly below of 2016, when they concentrated 57%), with a total of 166,592 beds advertised between the two. The total number of ads published on all digital platforms amounted to 70,321, 33% more than in 2016, of which 45.43% were repeated advertisements.
In addition, these advertised offers were made by 7,900 different advertisers, of which 46.83% managed a single property, representing 16.32% of the total beds in this modality.