This growth was primarily due to an increase in stays by foreign visitors, whose overnight stays rose from 4,500,856 to 4,603,280. This upturn compensated for a slight decrease in overnight stays by residents within national territory, which fell from 843,547 to 840,834, according to the latest Hotel Tourism Situation study by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
The rise in the number of nights spent by foreign tourists also mitigated a slight reduction in the average stay per user in the archipelago's hotels. In May 2026, the average stay was 5.85 days, compared to 6.01 days recorded in the same month of the previous year.
These figures indicate that the increase in hotel overnight stays in the Canary Islands was driven by a higher number of travelers using these accommodations in May, with 929,918 travelers recorded, surpassing the 889,987 from the same month in 2025.
Despite the rise in overnight stays, the occupancy rate per bed in hotel establishments slightly decreased, from 66.39% to 64.98%. This decline was influenced by an increase in the number of operational hotels on the islands, which grew from 571 to 607 during the same period.
Concurrently, the number of staff employed in the hotel sector also saw an increase. The workforce grew from 58,766 in May 2025 to 61,468 in May 2026, according to the INE report.
