Lanzarote Tourist Numbers Tumble In January

British tourist arrivals fell sharply on Lanzarote last month.  According to figures just released by the Spanish airport operator AENA.  As the number of UK holidaymakers visiting the Island of Fire declined by over 17% versus January 2008.

Spain´s tourist industry experienced the largest drop in visitor numbers for fifteen years in January.  With certain regions and destinations hit harder than others.

Nationwide, foreign visitor numbers fell back by just over 10%.  Whilst the small Canary Island of Lanzarote experienced a big drop of 12.1% – with the British market the hardest hit of all.  Down by 17.32%.  From 66,680 tourists in January 2008 to 55,562 last month.

The UK has long been the most important market for the island as British holiday makers account for well over 50% of the 1.5 million tourists that visit Lanzarote each year.

But the latest AENA figures suggest that the recent depreciation of the pound against the euro and falling consumer confidence in the UK has now started to bite.  And they also follow on from a disappointing December when visitor numbers from the UK tumbled by nearly 25%.

Other key markets were also hit hard in January.  With visitors numbers from Germany – Lanzarote´s second largest market – falling by 11.84%.  And with similar declines also recorded across all of the Scandinavian countries.

The only ray of light was provided by the Irish market.  Where the number of visitors actually increased during January – albeit by only 3.2%.  So further cementing Lanzarote´s position as the most popular destination in Spain for Irish tourists.

However the AENA figures will do little to instil confidence in the Lanzarote property market. Which has been largely paralysed since last September by the refusal of local banks to loosen their mortgage lending criteria.  And many local estate agents now report an excesss of reduced price properties with very few qualified buyers able to take advantage.

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