Tourism in the Canary Islands
| Tourism in the Canary Islands [1] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Population | |||
|
|
||||
| 2009 (Jan, Feb) |
1,530,267 | |||
| 2008 | 9,210,509 | |||
| 2007 | 9,326,116 | |||
| 2006 | 9,530,039 | |||
| 2005 | 9,276,963 | |||
| 2004 | 9,427,265 | |||
| 2003 | 9,836,785 | |||
| 2002 | 9,778,512 | |||
| 2001 | 10,137,202 | |||
| 2000 | 9,975,977 | |||
| 1994 | 7,569,096 | |||
| 1993 | 6,545,396 |
|
||
| Country | Population (2008 total) |
|||
| Germany | 2,498,847 | |||
| Great Britain | 3,355,942 | |||
Tourism is an essential part of the economy of the Canary Islands,[2] an archipelago off the west coast of Africa. Seven main islands and six islets make up the Canary Islands. They had more than 9 million foreign incoming tourists in 2007.[3] Tourists seeking sunshine and beaches first began to visit the Canaries in large numbers in the 1960s. Canary Islands is a leading European tourist destination with very attractive natural and cultural resources .[4][5]. Tenerife is the largest number of tourists it receives. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, Which is also one of the busiest resorts Spain and the first of Canary Islands.[6]
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[edit] Tourist attractions
The Canary Islands have 257 kilometres of beaches.[3] Despite the small area of the seven main islands (7,447 km2), they have very diverse landscapes, including long sandy beaches, spectacular cliffs, deserts, and woods. Pico del Teide is the highest mountain in Spain, with a height of 3,718 m, is located on Tenerife[2] They have four national parks, four biosphere reserves, and more than 140 other protected areas.[3] Visitors in the national parks are not permitted to leave defined paths or to camp in the parks.[2]
Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands. Tourist attractions here include nightlife, walking, and whale-and bird-watching.[2] Loro Parque (meaning "Parrot Park"[7]) on Tenerife has a collection of 3,000 parrots.[2] However, most of these parrots cannot be seen by visitors. There is another facility south of the main park where approximately 330 parrots species are kept and a breeding program takes place. Other attractions in the park include alligators, chimpanzees, jaguars, penguins, porpoises, Killer Whales, sharks, and tigers.[7]
Lanzarote, the most northeasterly of the Canary Islands, has been designated an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It has an arid volcanic landscape and there are about 300 volcanic cones on the island. The island has a low-key approach to tourism and the traditional architecture of island's interior are taken into consideration. This approach was influenced by the artist César Manrique, who was from Lanzarote.[2] Manrique created works in Lanzarote and the other islands,[2] including Jardin de Cactus, an amphitheatre-shaped garden with ten thousand cacti and stone sculptures. A 26-foot-high (7.9 m) cactus sculpted from metal by Manrique is located by the entrance to the garden.[8]
In late 2009 the Canary Islands Tourist Board launched a marketing campaign called "Operation No Winter Blues". 100 Canarian residents aged between 18 and 35 were selected to be ambassadors for the Islands. The campaign is based on the original name of the Fortunate Islands, with the ambassadors sharing the islands' good fortune with selected countries. The campaign involves the 100 citizens traveling to 14 European destinations spreading positive news about the Canaries and lasted until mid December.
[edit] See also
- Tourism in the Canary Islands
- Marine life of the Canary Islands
- Geography of the Canary Islands
[edit] References
- ^ www.gobiernodecanarias.org Statistics
- ^ a b c d e f g Andrews, Sarah, 2004, Canary Islands, Lonely Planet.
- ^ a b c Official Canary Islands Tourism Website - The Canaries
- ^ Moreno Gil, S. & Brent Ritchie, J. R. 2009. Understanding the museum image formation process: A comparison of residents and tourists. Journal of Travel Research. 47, 4, 480-493.
- ^ http://ulpgc.academia.edu/SergioMorenoGil/Papers/594805/Understanding_the_museum_image_formation_process_A_comparison_of_residents_and_tourists
- ^ http://noticias.terra.es/local/2009/0812/actualidad/canarias-recibe-593604-turistas-extranjeros-durante-el-mes-de-julio-un-16-menos-que-los-registrados-en-2008.aspx
- ^ a b Boehrer, Bruce Thomas, 2004, Parrot Culture, University of Pennsylvania Press
- ^ Hobshoue, Penelope, 2006, In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World.
