Alianza Hotelera is a consortium of hotel chains for the strategic development of the tourism industry. Its secretary, Fernando Gallardo, believes that growth of the US tourism market in Mallorca will outstrip that of European markets which have themselves grown quite significantly in recent years. France is a prime example, and Gallardo reckons that US growth will be double that of the French market.
"There was a significant rise last season and this year it is going to be even higher." In this regard, the United Airlines flights from New York are now three times a week as opposed to twice a week in 2022 and the schedule is three weeks longer. Meanwhile, Iberia have increased their US flights, having classified the US as a strategic market for the tourism industry.
Gallardo is not alone in Mallorca looking to the US and Canada as strong emerging markets which can be alternatives to the European markets. He feels that European tourist spending is hitting a ceiling, while there are ongoing economic concerns. The North American market can therefore act as an insurance.
It does offer higher purchasing power, but it is also a market that has a long way to go before it can truly represent a significant part of the tourist nationality mix.
There must be a question as to how rapidly this market will grow and to what size, regardless of developments such as United's increased frequency of service. In 2022, there was two per cent growth compared with 2019. For the whole of the Balearics, there were some 200,000 North American tourists, a figure that was behind, for example, Belgium (just under 300,000). The three largest foreign tourist markets in 2022 were Germany (4.3 million), the UK (3.4 million) and France (882,000). Spain was the third largest market overall (3.3 million).
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You will question anything that goes against your narrative, which is that everything is hunky dory, everybody is making pots of money and that there is absolutely nothing to worry about except that maybe VOX will gain more power in the forthcoming elections. I worry that it won’t. Cheers.
Well, that's a good sign. The handful of Americans we've hosted have been rather exemplary guests. And no, they aren't struggling to pay for it either. However, I'd question the need for an "alternative" to continental European tourists. They're our primary market, are also mostly exemplary guests, and exhibit no issues paying for it. Furthermore, for us and all others in the "not a resort" tourism circles, this year looks to be the best year ever. most everybody we conference with is already mostly booked up into 2024. And almost everybody was forced to raise prices this year (as much as 50%!). Yet it's had no perceptible impact on bookings. Statistically, it appears that British tourism is flat or declining, and perhaps the thinking behind this is that Americans would make up for that, but in reality, Americans are coming here for what they read about in social media, driven largely by the celebrities that frequent the island. But those celebs don't frequent the resorts, and a mediocre faux Disneyland experience isn't what they write about. Americans can get a far better quality Disneyland-like spring break experience right at home.. In Vegas or Cabo San Lucas, or Florida .. or... Disneyland. So I doubt it would help make up for a slightly declining British tourism in say, Magaluf. I suspect that would be replaced by Europeans anyway. But perhaps the reputation still needs some work. We'll see. And like the article says, there's a long way to go... But it's a good sign. Oh, and you might not know it, but there's about 1000 other routes from the US to Mallorca than the one flight from New York. And while that's a positive thing, it's not the reason for the popularity of Mallorca with North Americans.