Visitor arrivals from the UK to Tenerife are set to exceed 2 million in 2016 for the very first time following a bumper year with unprecedented growth. Over 1.55 million visitors from the UK travelled to Tenerife between January to September 2016, representing a remarkable 19.9% increase compared to the same period last year. These figures, released by the Tenerife Tourism Corporation, demonstrate the continued strength of the UK market to Tenerife, which remains the island's largest source market, accounting for 36.9% of all its visitors.

Mr. Alberto Bernabé, Tourism Minister for the Tenerife Island Government, comments on the latest figures: “This is excellent news for the island as the numbers show that this year we have welcomed about 350,000 additional British visitors to the island. One out of two Britons coming to the Canary Islands choose Tenerife as their preferred destination; and nearly four out of ten visitors to Tenerife come from the UK.”

Mr. Carlos Alonso, President of the Tenerife Island Government, remains confident that this growth will remain until next summer thanks to the “increase in air capacity and the launch of new routes.” In this regard, there will be five new UK-Tenerife routes for this winter: Manchester (Vueling and Norwegian), Birmingham (Vueling), Newcastle (Ryanair) y Belfast (Ryanair) – in addition to the recently-launched weekly service with Thomson Airways from Humberside Airport.

The Irish market has also performed extremely well this year: a total of 73,001 visitors from Ireland travelled to Tenerife from January to September 2016, +19.2% compared to the same period in 2015. In total, Tenerife welcomed 4,212,827 worldwide visitors in the first nine months of 2016, a 9.2% upsurge on the previous year.

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About Tenerife

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands and one of the most popular and easily accessible holiday destinations for UK travellers. Guaranteed sunshine, diverse landscapes, idyllic beaches and charming villages make the island an ideal holiday choice all year round, while its vast array of fantastic activities, from year-round whale watching and stargazing on Spain's tallest peak to caving adventures inside Europe's largest lava tubes, ensure that the island's variety of experiences are as unforgettable as its flavours and friendly people.

For general tourism information on Tenerife, please visit: www.webtenerife.co.uk           

For media information, please contact Enrique Martin or Richard Hume at Hume Whitehead on 0845 498 9980 or email enrique@humewhitehead.co.uk / richard@humewhitehead.co.uk