Official figures released by the Tenerife Tourism Corporation show that the largest of the Canary Islands welcomed a total of 2,049,093 visitors from the UK last year – a 16.1 per cent upsurge compared to 2015 – and the highest number ever recorded.

The UK market retains its prevailing position as the largest source market to Tenerife, accounting for 36.6 per cent of all visitors to the island.

The 20.4 per cent increase in air capacity and the launch of new routes from the UK in 2016 played a key role in hitting a record-breaking number of British visitors to Tenerife.

Arrivals to the island from UK airports saw an 18.2 per cent growth.

Alberto Bernabé, tourism minister for the Tenerife government, commented: “We are extremely pleased with the performance of the UK market last year, especially after the Brexit referendum.

“We would like to thank all of our valued partners – including UK tour operators, travel agencies and airlines – for their unconditional support throughout 2016 and for helping us to achieve these excellent results.”

Tenerife also saw a record performance from the Irish market in 2016: a total of 93,501 visitors from Ireland travelled to Tenerife last year, a remarkable 17.9 per cent increase compared to 2015.

Air capacity from Ireland saw a 14.7 per cent upsurge in 2016.

Tenerife welcomed a total of 5,596,764 worldwide visitors in 2016, a 7.9 per cent increase on the previous year.

Their average stay on the island was 7.54 days and their total daily expenditure was €121 per person.