MISSION

The Tourism Observatory of the Canary Islands is an instrument to support the monitoring and analysis of tourism, to improve the quality of decision-making processes in the tourism sector of the Canary Island Archipelago on its way to sustainable development.

CURRENT MONITORING PROCESSES

The Tourism Observatory of the Canary Islands is guided by the Tourism Council of the Canary Islands, an existing body where the regional and island tourism administrations, the main municipalities along with representatives of private firms and organizations, design the main tourism guidelines for tourism policy. The observatory is structured in several work areas to promote its efficacy: strategy, economy and business, social affairs and environmental issues. This structure is flexible and dynamic to adapt to changes in the needs of the sector.

KEY MONITORING AREAS

Local satisfaction with tourism and local well-being
Labor skills, entrepreneurship and employment
Destination innovation, economic impacts and benefits
Tourism seasonality
Tourism products, culture, leisure and tourist satisfaction
Digitalization, knowledge and smart tourism
Energy management
Water and wastewater management
Solid waste management
Climate change impacts and mitigation
Governance and the territorial scale of analysis and policies
Air transport connectivity and intermediation
Overtourism, vacation homes and mass tourism
Maturity of the destination and renovation
Natural capital supporting tourism, protected areas and fragile ecosystems
Universal accessibility and inclusivity

DID YOU KNOW...

Almost half the territory of the Canary Islands (46.74%) corresponds to natural protected areas. The biodiversity of the islands is very rich sharing with the Portuguese island of Madeira the greatest concentration of endemism in Europe. The Canary Islands have more the 4,000 endemic species, which means approximately one endemism per two km2 of surface area. In total, there are more than 17,000 terrestrial and marine species, which place the archipelago among the 15 richest biodiversity regions on the planet. For this reason, the Canary Islands are internationally recognized as a hotspot of world biodiversity (Biodiversity Data Bank of the Canary Islands).