The Canary Islands welcomed 784,475 inbound visitors during September, which is 35,339 travelers more than in the same month last year (+ 4.72%), according to data provided by Spanish Airports and Air Navigation (AENA).
The regional government reported that in the first nine months of the year the Canary Islands were visited by 7,458,856 foreign tourists, which is an increase of 1.74% on the same period in 2012 (i.e. 127,574 tourists).
The Regional Vice-counsel of Tourism, Ricardo Fernandez de la Puente Armas, said that "the September data continue in the trend of the recent months and suggest positive tourism numbers for the rest of the year and the winter season." He emphasized the growing amounts of visitors especially from the UK and Russia.
In this sense, Tenerife received 283,224 foreign visitors last September, 9,795 more than in September 2012, representing an increase of 3.58%. Over the first nine months, Tenerife welcomed 3.60% more international tourists than in the same period last year (2,825,380 foreigners).
Meanwhile, Gran Canaria received 204,077 foreign travelers in September 2013, representing an increase of 8.69%, with 16,308 more foreign visitors than in September 2012. Regarding the first nine months of 2013, Gran Canaria was visited by 2,026,823 foreigners, an increase of 0.36%, i.e. more than 7,263 tourists in the same period of 2012.
Lanzarote hosted 153,006 foreign visitors, which translates to 10,812 more tourists than in September last year, an increase of 7.60%. For the first nine months of 2013, Lanzarote was visited by 1,338,431 foreigners, an increase of 6.10% (76,907 travelers) on 2012.
With respect to Fuerteventura, where 137,397 foreign visitors decided to spend a few days off, the island thus recorded a decrease in tourism numbers of 0.19% (257 tourists) than in September 2012. In the first nine months, Fuerteventura was visited by 1,195,007 foreign travelers, a decrease of 3.16% (38,940 tourists) over the same period of 2012.
Finally, La Palma was visited by 6,771 foreigners, representing a decrease of 16.30% over the same month last year, with 1,319 fewer foreign travelers. In the first nine months of 2013, La Palma was visited by 73,215 foreigners, implying a decrease of 17.72%, with 15,771 fewer foreigners over the same period of 2012.