Owners of holiday villas in Lanzarote will be cheered by the news that British visitor numbers to the Island Of Fire have jumped 15.6% during the first half of 2008. According to new figures just released by AENA, the Spanish airport authority.
The upsurge in tourist numbers is particularly remarkable in the light of current economic conditions. With many industry observers suggesting that the current credit crunch, allied with a weakening pound against the euro, will have an adverse effect on overseas travel.
Lanzarote however has clearly confounded these expectations – as British consumers seem intent on ensuring that they still enjoy their week in the sun. With 509,755 British tourists visiting the island during the first six months of the year.
And it´s not just the British who are refusing to lay down their buckets and spades. As Irish tourist numbers to the island have also been on the rise. Up 5.4% across the first half of the year. With Lanzarote welcoming 123,047 guests from Eire – a remarkable figure that illustrates the islands popularity as a holiday destination in the Republic.
Other nationalities are also reluctant to give up their beach holidays – despite the deteriorating economic situation worldwide. With Dutch, Austrian, Swedish and Norwegian tourists all contributing to an overall increase of foreign visitor numbers to the island of 5.9%.
The only negative note has come from the German market – Lanzarote´s second largest after the UK. Where a long-term trend of falling visitor numbers continues unabated as the Germans abandon the island for new and different destinations. With visitor numbers down 13% for the first six months of the year.
As a result of this overall increase in visitors the many thousands of owners of private holiday villas and apartments on the island are reporting bumper bookings. And should these trends continue across the rest of 2008 Lanzarote will record the highest number of visitors from the UK in over five years.
Popularity: 4% [?]
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