More holidays and less covid: The Canary Islands uses a 'reality show' as a strategy to revive its tourism

First there was the pandemic, then the eruption of the volcano on La Palma.

In recent years, the Canary Islands have received one blow after another that has substantially affected their tourism, the economic engine of the community that represents 35% of the regional GDP.

To reverse the losses of 2020 - visitors were reduced by up to 71% - and 2021, the Ministry of Tourism and Employment has opted for a strategy that moves beyond the brochure or advertising spot and ventures into the "voluntary consumption" of entertainment.

The result is

Discovering Canary Islands

, a

reality show

in which eight contestants from eight countries discover attractions of the islands through tests, which premieres its second season this Friday, after being the most viewed content on Rakuten in 2022.

“Advertising is usually very invasive and attacks potential customers with interruptions at certain times.

We are interested in finding a moment of communication where audiences are more receptive to the messages,” explains Elena González Vázquez de Parga, director of marketing and communication projects for Tourism of the Canary Islands.

The public institution has decided to invest in this strategy together with the Mediabrands agency.

In an obvious international projection,

Discovering Canary Islands

can be seen in 42 European countries through the Rakuten TV platform and has been recorded in English.

More information

Spain, land of 'realities'

The program consists of seven episodes, in which the participants, through physical challenges and adventures, will get to know one island per episode: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro.

This year they come from Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and France, and their profiles are very diverse: from a 56-year-old model to a 27-year-old ex-military and actress.

More than 400 hours were recorded with images full of mountains, forests, jungle, beach, cliffs and sea, because the objective of the program is to make the island the protagonist.

“We want people to live, experience and discover everything there is to do in the Canary Islands.

The islands are a well-known destination, but they are usually reduced to sun and sand, which it is, but there is much more in gastronomy and cultural identity.

Showing that through a conventional campaign was too little for us,” says Poncho García-Valenzuela, executive producer of the series.

The production, guided by Tourism, chose to film in the “lesser known” places to project a complete image of the community and not be summarized in the typical stereotypical images.

“It was very important for us locals to contribute our own vision, to choose the image we want to project,” says González, who provided traditional legends of the places that function as a common thread of the series.

Some of the places that will appear in the series are Charco de la Novia (Lanzarote), Salinas del Carmen (Fuerteventura), Acusa Seca caves (Gran Canaria), Acantilado de Los Gigantes (Tenerife), Los Llanos de Aridane (La Palma) , Garajonay National Park (La Gomera) or Charco de los Sargos (El Hierro).

The presenter of 'Discovering Canary Islands', Pilar Rubio, and the director of marketing and communication projects for Turismo de Canarias, Elena González Vázquez.Jose Gegundez

Repeat the success of the first season

Discovering Canary Islands

had more than 46 million viewers in the first season and was Rakuten's most viewed content in 2022. 80% of the audience who started watching it finished it and 3 out of 4 viewers want it to be their next destination be the Canary Islands, according to the data provided by the producer García-Valenzuela.

How much has the program influenced your recent visits to the islands?

It is impossible to determine, what is certain is the high level of visitors that the community received in 2023, with more than 1.7 billion visitors, a figure higher than the 2019 numbers.

González attributes, in part, the increase to the change in behavior brought about by covid.

“The trip is now a priority.

Now, for example, before buying a chair I prefer to go on vacation;

“The priority of travel has risen.”

He adds that the stoppage due to the pandemic particularly affected them with the late withdrawal of restrictions from the British market, the islands' main audience: “All this has found its reward in 2023, where people were not only willing to visit, but to spend more money too.”

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