According to travel booking platform Hopper 80 per cent of Americans heading to Europe plan to spend at least seven days on vacation and Portugal tops the charts as the most booked European country, with its capital Lisbon being the number one city for leisure travel this summer.
Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal, also made the top ten.
And Spain comes in second place, with Barcelona, Palma and Madrid ranking among the top ten European cities for leisure travellers.
One big plus for Mallorca are the United Airlines direct flights to Palma during the summer.
The United Airlines service between Newark Liberty International Airport and Palma restarted on May 26 and will continue until September 27.
The schedule is slightly longer than in 2022, the inaugural year for the route, when flights started in the first week of June and ended in mid-September.
For the director of the Palma 365 Tourism Foundation, Pedro Homar, the increase in frequencies is evidence of the success of a service that was used by almost 10,000 travellers from the US in 2022. Homar says that the service has had a significant impact in economic terms, suggesting that these travellers spend an average of some 1,000 euros per day.
“American tourists don’t come for the sun and the beach - for that they have the the Caribbean, which is much closer. They are interested in the gastronomy, the history, the culture, the traditions... .” The flight to Palma, he adds, “puts the island on the map, with a potential market of 350 million people.”
Assessment of the service, where the Balearic tourism ministry is concerned, is positive. “This is an emerging and high-quality market, and the flights make it possible to attract tourists with high purchasing power who benefit the entire tourism value chain.” The ministry, the Council of Mallorca and Palma 365 are all seeking to establish routes from the US that are not just for the summer months.
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Dear Finbar, there is always one person who is silly enough to waste their money on a restaurant that has a star from a tire company. You are a typical delusional person who believes all Americans are wealthy. I was recently at Hotel Son Net and there was a group of Americans on a corporate promotion, (all paid for). I spoke with the group from Texas and none of them flew United. Camila is right on with her comments.
Was in Dins Santi Tauri the other day and it was 80% American. At around €250 a head including wine and drinks and the cost ofa boutique hotel €450 a night it soon adds up. Add some shopping, breakfast, lunch, boat trips, car hire etc. its easily $1,000 a day each. Maybe you don't see them Camila because they don't go to Lineakers bar in Magaluf?
While I agree with you that the hyperbole over increased American tourism is well, hyperbole, my experience is that 1000 per day isn't all that unusual, especially by continental European tourists.
"Americans are flocking to Mallorca"?? Potential market of 350 MILLION??? the entire population of the US? Sorry, such sensationalist rubbish; 60% of Americans don't even have $400 for an emergency, let alone a ticket to Mallorca. The English and Germans always have and always will "flock" to Mallorca. And please, spending an average of $1000 per day???? Maybe those arriving on their private yachts, not a United flight.