If the figures of 1% increase are true, wish they would spend some money!!!
The tourists must be from the Canaries and use ferries because the airport is certainly down on numbers.

Total passengers in October (Lanzarote Airport) 435,069 -8.3%
Total number of flights/operations 4,195 -5.4%
Total cargo 421,965 -24.9%

The figures come from AENA, Cymmon.

You are taking PASSENGER numbers through the airport which includes people arriving AND departing. My figures are tourists arriving at the airport.

So this must mean that there are more people on the Island.........
Not many leaving, wish I could find them....
Been on the Island 2 years and it is DEFINATELY quieter. You´ve probably been on longer, I´ve been visiting for 16 and I´ve noticed a BIG difference.

I did A level maths and can prove that we both don´t exist, figures are great. Looking for tourists is for real, thats why bars and hotels in PdC are struggling.

PdC has the road works, hoping for them to stop throughout the Christmas and New Year period. Ask any bar owner, shopkeeper, even Avon reps and trade is DOWN.

Cy,

Even if the figures are 8% down it's clearly more than that in PDC soyou have to assume that more people are heading to different resorts, probably the AI ones in CT and various ones in PB.
Once the roadworks are finished and if they can tidy up a few loose ends then I would expect PDC numbers to increase again, but who knows in this economic climate.

Ole

The figures are definately down, no question.
Back to the AI, again, most people on AI do not spend outside the complex.
The Nationality of the tourist also dictates spending. Some countries tourist spend with vigour others are known to eat and drink indoors, never to venture out and experience the variety of restaurants available.
Playa Blanca and Costa Teguise are also suffering a big downturn in figures.
The figures I used for accomodation are from the same site as luxeryvillas used for his 1% increase.

All I can see is that ALL figures have dropped at the Airport. This can only mean that overall passengers have dropped unless more are leaving (or more arriving, but this would mean more on the Island).

The credit crunch is hitting all Countries, people who have booked either come over but spend less or cancel. The loss of Travel companies and 6 airlines that served Lanzarote has NOT increased tourism.

When the road works have finished, Puerto del Carmen will be transformed and Spain has just put into place a multibillion€ rescue plan for their economy similar to the UK. It will turn, like all cyclical events, we just have to be patient.

Any ideas when the roadworks are due to finish in PDC ?
Thinking of coming over in late Jan early Feb

It´s hoped that they will be finished by end of January, but no year quoted yet!

We've been over every November for the past 6 years and certainly noticed a difference in how busy the place was this time, even allowing for the road works.
Due to redundancy and my new job paying a lot less than the old one it's looking like it will be more like 15 months before we are back instead of 12 - so we will miss 2009! Sob!
But once Christmas is over we are down the town making that booking!
Lynnes
x

I agree with everything you say, Cymmon. Lanzarote is and will continue to suffer like everyone else. It´s just that you said "There has been a downturn over the last 2 years" in answer to the poster´s question "Is Lanzarote quiet just now", which isn´t true.

Yes, I stand corrected. Just checked on data for 2006 against 2005.

Passengers 5,626,087 +2.9%
Operations 50,172 +6.4%
Cargo 6,113,887 -7.8%

I think what must be looked at is where the tourists are coming from.

If figures are up then they surely cannot be coming from the UK or Eire.

My partner works in an Irish bar and they are down on this time last year.
My landlord works at Costa Sal in Matagorda and he say tourists are down and it's the worst Christmas they've had in many years.
I'm a DJ and my bookings are almost non existant. The worst I've had in 6 years of living in the Canaries.

So the "official" figures may say that things are OK, but we on the ground know that they are sht.