Over the past 2 years, the ongoing global recession has had a severe negative impact on a number of global industries, but it has been recognized that one of the hardest hit is international travel and tourism. With the increasing financial constraints on UK families and rising unemployment leading to lower volumes of per capita disposable income, many tourists have tended to stay at home or alternatively take their family holidays in various UK locations, instead of venturing on more expensive visits abroad.
However, despite the difficult financial times affecting the global travel market; It looks like there are now positive signs of growth and recovery on the horizon for some traditionally popular European venues. Tenerife, for example, for many years a very popular holiday destination for tourists from the UK in particular, has seen growth in tourist figures during the first few months of 2010, with visitor numbers increasing by around 2, 36% during January 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. Holidaymakers from the UK and mainland Europe are slowly returning in large volumes to enjoy the warm summer sun and beautiful Mediterranean coastline that the largest of the Canary Islands has to offer.
Recent reports suggest that the north of the island has benefited the most in terms of tourism growth in the last 12 months (increasing 3.25%), with new resorts such as Las Caletillas beginning to grow in stature and international recognition, although the south of the island has also seen an increase of 2.72% in January 2010 compared to January 2009, with resorts such as Los Cristianos and Playa de las Américas remaining popular for holidaymakers from Tenerife and the UK looking for a summer holiday abroad.
