Tourism in the Canary Islands and Spain has reached historic levels in 2024, consolidating the excellent performance of the sector and breaking previous records in several indicators.
Record tourist arrivals
The Canary Islands will close 2024 with a historic figure of 18 million tourists, which means a combination of national (2.5 million) and foreign visitors (15.5 million). The latter figure is well in excess of the previous year’s figure:
- The mark of 2017, when 14.3 million foreign tourists arrived.
- The 2023 data, with 14.2 million, which until now was the second best figure.
- In October 2024, the region recorded 1.4 million foreign tourist arrivals, an increase of 7.1% over October 2023, reflecting steady growth throughout the year.
Record tourist expenditure
Total spending by foreign tourists also shows significant growth:
- 1.8 billion euros in October 2024 alone, 7.7% more than in October of the previous year.
- Between January and October this year, cumulative spending amounts to 18,423 million euros, equivalent to 16.6% of national tourist spending.
- The Canary Islands are projected to close the year with 22,000 million euros, surpassing the 20,334 million recorded in 2023.
Outstanding trends
Although a slight reduction of 1.5% has been detected in the average stay of foreign tourists, this decrease is compensated by:
The increase in daily expenditure per tourist.- The higher number of registered visitors, which maintains economic growth.
- The Canary Islands maintains its position as the third Spanish region with the highest tourist expenditure, behind Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
Sustained growth and national context
On a national level, Spain has received 82.9 million foreign tourists up to October 2024, with an average growth of 10.8%, while the Canary Islands have grown at a rate of 9.7%. This trend places the archipelago as an international reference destination and key to the country’s economic development.
In short, the Canary Islands are experiencing a moment of tourism splendour in 2024, driven by the increase in foreign tourists and the growth in total expenditure, consolidating its position as one of the main tourist powers in Spain and Europe.
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