Our Mission: Honest Local Service In A Broken Tour Industry
Why Club Canary exists, what we stand for, and the kind of travel we believe in.
Club Canary is the local luxury tour platform for the Canary Islands. We started because the way travelers were treated on these islands needed to change. This page tells you the why, the how, and the standard we hold ourselves to every single day.
To Be The Most Trusted Local Tour Platform In The Canary Islands
We exist to give travelers a real, local, honest, and personal way to experience the Canary Islands. With curated activities, transparent pricing, real customer service, and a team that actually lives here.
For luxury travelers, families, couples, and companies who want their trip handled by people who genuinely care, instead of an algorithm that does not.
Why Club Canary Exists
To understand Club Canary, you need to understand the world we came from. Before the platforms and the apps, the Canary Islands tour industry ran on street excursion shops. One on every corner. People yelling "Excursions! Excursions!" on the pavement, pulling travelers in to sell jet skis, boat trips, and buggy rides on the spot.
Some of these shops are honest. Many are not. The majority work on pure commission, sell what pays them most, and have no online reputation to protect. No Google reviews. No Tripadvisor. No Trustpilot. When something goes wrong, refunds get refused. When somebody complains, nobody listens. A lot of cash, a lot of unregistered bookings, a lot of promises that get forgotten the moment you walk out.
Roy Schijvens, founder of Club Canary, started inside that world. He sold excursions on the streets of Tenerife just like everyone else. But he did it differently. He filtered for travelers who were genuinely looking. He was honest about what each tour actually was. He closed deals because people trusted him, not because he pressured them.
At some point, the question became unavoidable: Why does the entire industry have to work this broken way?
On 16 August 2019, Roy founded Club Canary in Costa Adeje, Tenerife. The first local tour platform built around three simple ideas:
- Honest pricing. Best price guaranteed, clearly displayed, no negotiating games.
- Registered bookings. Every client tracked, every reservation safe, full transparency if anything happens.
- Real local service. A team based here, knowing operators personally, answering messages when it matters.
That was the start. Tenerife first. Then Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura. In 2026, we added La Gomera and La Palma. Six islands today, all served by the same local standard.
When I started selling excursions on the streets of Tenerife, I saw how the industry treated people. Pushy selling. False promises. No accountability. I knew there had to be a better way, so I built one.
Club Canary is the company I wish existed when I started. A local team, real reviews, honest pricing, full responsibility for every booking we take. We are not the cheapest. We are not the biggest. We are the most trusted, and that is the only thing I ever wanted us to be.
What We Stand For
These are the five values that guide every decision at Club Canary. From which operators we partner with, to how we reply to messages at 22:00, to how we design new packages for summer 2026.
Real Local Team
We live in the Canary Islands. Our office and team are based in Costa Adeje, Tenerife. The team joins activities, meets operators, knows the boats, captains, and restaurants personally. We do not sell what we do not know.
Honest Pricing, Always
Best price guaranteed. No fake discounts. No starting high to negotiate down. What you see is what you pay. We do not play games with people on holiday.
Registered And Safe
Every booking is registered. Every client is tracked. Every operator has clear policies for cancellations, weather, illness, and emergencies. If a boat ever has an issue, we know exactly who is on board and how to reach them.
Curated, Not Catalogued
Every operator on Club Canary has been visited, tested, and personally booked by our team before going live. We work with around 200 vetted partners across 300+ active listings. Quality over quantity.
Real Service, Real People
We answer in six languages. We work shifts from 08:00 to 22:00. We use WhatsApp, live chat, and real humans. Our chat may use AI to send instant first replies, but a real team member is always behind every conversation.
Stories From The Field
Words are easy. Real moments are not. Here are four examples of how Club Canary actually operates when it matters, drawn from our archive of real bookings.
Who We Build For
Club Canary is not for everyone, and that is the point. We exist for travelers who value real service over the lowest possible price, real local knowledge over generic catalogue tours, and real human connection over chatbots and automation.
Couples And Honeymooners
Private yacht charters, sunset stargazing, helicopter tours over Teide, private chef dinners, and the occasional surprise marriage proposal we help design. Honeymoon and couples programs that feel personal, not packaged.
Explore couples experiences →
Companies And Teams
Custom outings for groups of 10 to 200 people. Multi-activity days with backup plans, safety policies, video recaps, and the kind of logistics most platforms cannot handle.
View team building →
Film And Production Teams
Movie crews, location scouting, on-island fixers, luxury car rentals, crew transfers, and the local advice that saves productions weeks. Trusted by major streaming production partners.
Film production services →
Affluent Families And Luxury Travelers
For travelers who do not have time to plan and do not want to risk a bad operator. One local team handling everything. Including private jet services for those who fly in style.
Private jet services →The Canary Club: The Most Exclusive Travel Group In The Canary Islands
For our most loyal travelers, premium families, and VIP clients, we built The Canary Club. A private luxury concierge service with dedicated personal contact, senior team on every booking, direct connections to top restaurants and nightclubs, custom touches on every experience, and access to services other agencies and hotel concierges cannot offer.
Membership is by invitation, typically after 10,000€ in annual bookings, or unlocked automatically with a single private jet charter. Real service deserves real recognition.
Why People Choose Us Over The Alternatives
Most travelers booking activities in the Canary Islands consider three other options. We respect that every option has its place. Here is an honest breakdown of what each one offers, and where Club Canary fits in.
Street Excursion Shops
The corner shops with pictures of boats outside. Some are run by good people doing honest work. The majority operate on pure commission with limited accountability. The most common gaps:
- Few or no online reviews to verify reputation
- Bookings often unregistered, with no traceability
- Cancellation policies that are vague or undocumented
- Cash-heavy transactions with no contract behind them
Some shops are great. The challenge as a traveler is knowing which ones, in advance, without being able to verify anything online.
Hotel Reception Desks
Hotel concierges and reception sellers are convenient because they are right there. The downsides depend heavily on who is selling:
- Limited tour knowledge beyond what is on their script
- Often working strict hotel hours with no after-hours support
- Prices can be marked up significantly above market
- Many sellers are external contractors using the hotel name to look legitimate
Hotel desks work well for last-minute simple bookings. They are less suited for complex multi-day plans or premium experiences.
Big Global Tour Sites
The international names you already know. They have massive catalogues, easy interfaces, and strong brand recognition. They serve their purpose for budget-conscious bookings. The trade-offs:
- No local team based in the Canary Islands
- Algorithm-driven recommendations often favor highest-commission tours
- Customer support is mostly automated, with limited human escalation
- They often bid on the names of local businesses to redirect their traffic
- Major local events like Carnival or New Year programs are usually missed entirely
Big global platforms work well for standardized activities. They struggle with curation, customization, and anything requiring real local presence.
Club Canary is the alternative for travelers who want a real local team, registered bookings, full responsibility, and curated experiences. We are not trying to be everything to everyone. We are the right choice for travelers who value how a trip is run, not just what it costs.
The Club Canary Standard, In Numbers
Trust is not a slogan. It is a result. Here is what Club Canary has built since 2019.
As Featured In
Club Canary and founder Roy Schijvens have been featured in international and local press, including coverage of Canary Islands tourism, Carnival logistics, and luxury private jet travel.
The Club Canary Journey
From a street-level idea in Tenerife to the most trusted local tour platform in the Canary Islands. A short timeline of how we got here.
The Beginning
Club Canary is founded on 16 August in Costa Adeje, Tenerife. The first local tour platform built around honest pricing and registered bookings.
Building Trust
Through pandemic, recovery, and growth, Club Canary builds the reputation that becomes its foundation. Reviews on Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, and Google start stacking up.
Expanding Across The Islands
Expansion across Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura. Always with the same standard: only local, only tested, only honest.
Six Islands And The Luxury Pivot
La Gomera and La Palma added. Launch of curated luxury packages, dedicated corporate division, film production services, and private jet logistics.
A Special Note For Travelers From The United States
The Canary Islands are becoming increasingly popular with travelers from the United States, and we have built a special focus on this market. American travelers often expect higher service standards, better food and drink upgrades, and more proactive hospitality than the local market typically delivers.
We understand this. Our team is trained to provide that level of service without the friction. When you reach out, you will not be treated like a budget traveler. You will get clear, honest advice about what the islands can deliver and what they cannot. We will also help manage expectations on the realities of inter-island travel, traffic on the south coast of Tenerife, and what is actually comfortable in a short trip versus what looks good on paper.
Our biggest service to American travelers is honesty about what is worth doing, and what is not. Trying to see all seven islands in a week is rarely the right choice. We will tell you that, then design a trip that actually delivers the experience you came for.
Where Club Canary Is Going
From summer 2026 onwards, Club Canary is doubling down on what we do best: curated, customizable, premium experiences that no global platform can replicate.
We are growing dedicated divisions for:
- Corporate outings and team building for groups of 10 to 200, with full event design, logistics, and backup plans. See our corporate team building services.
- Film and production logistics for international productions, commercial shoots, and crew management across all islands. See our film production services.
- Luxury travel packages for affluent families and couples, including private jet services in the Canary Islands, private chef dinners, helicopter tours, and bespoke multi-island itineraries.
- Luxury concierge partnerships with established concierges in London, across the United States, and beyond. Concierges send us client profiles. We design the full experience. They get the credit. The client gets the trip of their life.
This is the direction we believe in. Less catalogue, more curation. Less mass tourism, more personal travel. Less automation, more real local service.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Mission
The questions travelers, concierges, and corporate clients ask us most often about who we are, how we work, and why Club Canary exists.
Why was Club Canary founded?
Club Canary was founded in 2019 to fix the broken Canary Islands tour industry. Before Club Canary, most tours were sold by street excursion shops with no online reviews, no registered bookings, and no real accountability. Founder Roy Schijvens started inside that system and saw how travelers were being misled. He built Club Canary as the honest, local, registered alternative. The mission has stayed the same since day one: be the most trusted local tour platform in the Canary Islands.
What makes Club Canary different from a normal tour booking website?
Club Canary is a local curated platform, not a global catalogue. We are based in Tenerife, our team lives in the Canary Islands, and we personally visit and test every operator before they go live. Big global sites list any operator who signs up. We list only the operators we trust. We also handle real customer service in six languages, manage local events like Carnival and New Year, and design custom packages that catalogue sites cannot offer.
Is Club Canary actually local to the Canary Islands?
Yes. Club Canary was founded in Costa Adeje, Tenerife, on 16 August 2019. Our main office and team are based there. We operate online across all six islands we cover, including Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, and La Palma. Our team personally visits operators, joins tours, and knows captains, drivers, and venue owners by name. Local presence is the foundation of how we work.
Why does Club Canary focus on luxury and curated experiences instead of mass tourism?
Mass tourism is already handled by every global tour site. What is missing in the Canary Islands is real curation, real local service, and real customization for travelers who want more than a basic group tour. Club Canary focuses on couples, honeymooners, corporate teams, film productions, and affluent families because these travelers need a trusted local partner who handles details properly. From 2026 onwards we are doubling down on this direction with dedicated luxury packages, private jets, and a corporate division.
How does Club Canary select its partner operators?
Most of our operators on Club Canary are personally visited, tested, and booked by our team before going live on the platform. We verify licenses, safety standards, customer service quality, and consistency. We work with around 200 vetted operators across more than 300 active product listings. We also turn down operators who do not meet our standard, even when it would mean more revenue. Quality of partner relationships is more important to us than catalogue size.
Does Club Canary work with luxury travel concierges and travel agents?
Yes. Club Canary partners with luxury concierges in London, across the United States, and in other major markets. The concierge sends us a client profile and we design the full Canary Islands experience. The concierge presents the trip to their client. We handle the local logistics, vetted operators, and on-the-ground service. If you are a concierge, travel agent, or VIP planner, you can reach out to us directly through our contact channels.
What does Club Canary mean by honest pricing?
Honest pricing means the price you see is the price you pay. We do not start high to negotiate down. We do not run fake discounts. We have a best price guarantee on our experiences. We are transparent about what is included and what is not. This is part of why Club Canary was created. Many street excursion sellers use pricing tricks that are unfair to travelers. For example, advertising a jet ski rental at one price, then revealing it is per person when you share. Or adding local taxes, harbor fees, or fuel surcharges at the moment of payment. Pressure selling and negotiation games are also common. We do not play any of these games. Our prices are clear, all-in, and the same for every traveler.
Does Club Canary handle large corporate outings and group bookings?
Yes. Club Canary designs custom corporate outings, team building days, and incentive trips for groups from 10 to 200 people. We handle multi-activity logistics like jet ski and quad relays, private boat parties with open bar and DJ, transport coordination, safety policies, and video recap services. Our team has designed outings that combine three different activity providers in one day, with strict safety rules and full local authority compliance.
Why does Club Canary focus on travelers from the United States?
Yes, and we have built part of our service to match the expectations American travelers usually have. United States travelers are a growing audience in the Canary Islands, especially in Tenerife, and they often expect higher service standards, premium food and drink upgrades, and more proactive hospitality than the local market typically delivers. We optimize for that. We also give honest advice about the realities of inter-island travel, traffic on the south coast of Tenerife, and which trip plans actually work versus which only look good on paper. At the same time, Club Canary is fully multilingual and serves travelers from across Europe, the United Kingdom, and beyond. We do not depend on any single market.
Does Club Canary help with marriage proposals and special occasions?
Yes. Club Canary has helped plan and execute more than 150 successful marriage proposals on private yacht charters, with many more added every year. We brief the captain in advance, plan the timing signal, arrange recording, and add flowers, champagne, or music if requested. We also handle anniversaries, surprise honeymoons, birthday celebrations on private boats, and other special moments where the details matter.
Does Club Canary work with film productions and major streaming platforms?
Yes. Club Canary has worked with production companies behind major international streaming and broadcast platforms on location logistics, luxury car rentals, private boat transfers, and crew transport across the Canary Islands. We advise productions on what is possible locally, what should be sourced from the mainland, and how marine restrictions and protected wildlife affect on-water filming. We do not name specific productions to protect client confidentiality.
What is the long-term vision of Club Canary?
The long-term vision of Club Canary is to be the most trusted local luxury tour platform across all seven Canary Islands. We are growing dedicated divisions for corporate outings, film and production logistics, luxury concierge partnerships, and private aviation. We are not trying to be the biggest tour platform. We are trying to be the most trusted local partner for travelers who care about how their trip is run, not just what it costs.
The Quality Floor Never Changes
Every booking on Club Canary, from a 39€ jet ski rental to a 10,000€ private yacht charter, goes through the same quality filter. The same vetted operators. The same honest pricing. The same registered bookings. The same real local presence on the ground.
What scales with your booking is the level of personalization. Complex multi-day plans, corporate events, luxury experiences, and high-end private charters get our most senior experience designers from the moment you reach out. This is normal in any serious business. The quality floor never moves. The dedication scales with the trip.
This is the standard we set in 2019 and the standard we hold ourselves to every single day. That is the mission.
Ready To Experience The Real Canary Islands?
Whether you are planning a honeymoon, a private yacht day, a corporate retreat, a film production, or a luxury family vacation, our local team is ready. Real people, real answers, real fast. Tell us what you have in mind and we will design the rest.
Reply time: usually within minutes during opening hours, 08:00 to 22:00, 7 days a week, in 6 languages.