Tourism in Gran Canaria

From the second half of the 19^th century, Gran Canaria started gaining popularity in European circles as an attractive place for recreational holidays and people in need of rest. Shipping companies soon took advantage of this development and equipped their vessels with cabins for the transport of passengers. These companies would also take the initiative of building the first hotels on the island, one of which was the Hotel Santa Catalina (1890) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, this being the only hotel dating from the early beginnings of tourism that still remains open.

In the year 1912, when the Island Council Law was brought into force, which led to a number of infrastructure projects such as the construction of the airport, water reservoirs and the principal highway network of the island, the foundation stone for the development of the tourism industry and its related services was laid. But during the first half of the 20^th century further growth was impeded by a number of wars (World Wars I and II and the Spanish Civil War). Not even the opening of the Gando Airport (Gran Canaria’s first airport) in 1930 brought a new boost to the tourism industry. It was only in 1957 that an aeroplane of the Swedish Airline Transair AB landed on the island with all of its 54 seats completely booked. This was the first of many charter flights to come to the island from that date on!

Eventually, based on the boom of the 1960’s, tourism became the main source of income for the island, making Gran Canaria one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in the world.

Today tourism in Gran Canaria is mainly about beaches, water sports, nightlife and leisure parks, especially when it comes to the south side of the island. This is the place, where you find water and theme parks, shopping malls, discos and many hours of sun. Tourists coming to the southern sandy beaches and dunes have brought more wealth to Gran Canaria than banana plantations could ever have done – tourism has grown from less than a hundred visitors a year at the end of the 19th century to eleven million visitors per year in the beginning of the new millennium!

The north of the island is more oriented to the businessman, hosting all sorts of facilities for the organization of conferences, seminars and business meetings. This is also the area where you’ll find the cosmopolitan city of Las Palmas, the island’s business centre, and the busy port Puerto de la Luz, one of Europe’s most important harbours. The sandy beaches of Las Canteras and Las Alcaravaneras, flanking the city of Las Palmas, account for a stable income from tourism in this north-eastern area.

Gran Canaria is also attracting more and more visitors with niche markets, which have emerged in the past years, such as golf or wellness holidays or rural tourism, adding even more attractions to this already diversified destination and making it one of the most accomplished in Europe!