Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain – 22 February 2017 –
Hoteliers in Spain’s Canary Islands are being urged to accelerate the construction of new holiday properties as a spree of terrorist attacks in the Mediterranean prompts airlines to switch capacity to markets perceived as safer by tourists, Bloomberg reports.
Tenerife, the biggest of the islands and the most popular with visitors, effectively ran out of beds over the winter, while a general shortage of accommodation pushed up room prices as much as 15 percent, according to Sophie Dekkers, UK regional manager at discount carrier EasyJet. That increase is expected to continue into the summer, she said.
The position of the Canaries off Morocco’s Atlantic coast makes the archipelago a year-round destination for sun-loving north Europeans and a natural candidate for extra flights following the attacks in North Africa, Turkey and the French Riviera.
EasyJet has also held talks with the Greek Tourism Board on extending the holiday season there, while tour operator Thomas Cook Group is adding capacity in markets including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Portugal.
“We’ve been working very closely with the Canarian government to talk about accelerating hotel projects,” Dekkers said. “We know the demand is there; let’s make sure the hotels are being built, make sure they’re getting support so they can be completed.”