Canary Islands Tourism Launches Campaign to Capture the 'Silver' Market and Digital Nomads

The Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands will launch a campaign starting in September to attract new visitors, focusing on those that stay longer in the islands and which, in turn, do not depend so much on air travel. This was announced Tuesday in the Parliament of the Canary Islands by the Minister of Tourism, Yaiza Castilla, targeting silver tourism in the age group 55 to 80, digital nomads and teleworkers.

The uncertainties around tourist demand are forcing the Canary Islands to look to attract visitors that would stay longer, such as the retirement market and teleworkers, both motivated by the quality of life offered by the Islands.

Castilla stressed that "the uncertainty that the current situation has caused regarding tourism, our main economic sector, forces us to look for other segments in which we have begun to work with the public company Promotur Turismo de Islas Canarias, studying these markets and defining a recruitment strategy. And what we see is of great potential for the Islands".

The marketing strategy of the Canary Islands brand has been for years based on tourist activities. "Until now, the segments we have been promoting are those related to nature, the sun and the beach, active tourism and weddings, but the coronavirus, as we know, has caused profound changes in the demand for travel and, above all, we do not know how long this will last" she said.

In her presentation, Yaiza Castilla made reference to the fact that “even before the pandemic, and according to data from 2018, 5.2% of the European working population was teleworking”. She stated that with the Covid-19 this trend has been increasing, and more and more international companies allow and promote remote working among their employees as a means of achieving a better quality of life

The Minister of Tourism suggested the Canary Islands meets more than enough conditions to attract this type of visitor, on which two determining factors weigh when choosing a destination to telework: good internet connection and quality of life, both of which these islands offer.

She explained that digital nomads are mostly millennials, 62% between the ages of 26 and 36 and without family responsibilities. Their income varies between 1,000 and 5,000 euros per month.

"Making a place for ourselves in this segment will not be difficult thanks to the strengths of the destination," Yaiza Castilla listed the advantages of the Canary Islands as the quality of life, a good climate that the islands enjoy all year round, varied nature, a lower cost of living than other European cities, the European nature of the Islands, the advantage of its international airports, and its good broadband internet coverage.

The counsellor added, "the Canary Islands have the perfect mix to attract teleworkers from all over Europe."

Work has already started to communicate this during September, target markets are the Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg, Austria, Denmark, France, Ireland and Belgium.

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Last modified on Thursday, 30 July 2020 13:13