Summer is coming to an end and all eyes are on the winter, but is the energy there?

Summer is coming to an end and all eyes are on the winter, but is the energy there? | David Arquimbau Sintes - pmv - E

Humphrey CarterPalma15/09/2021 10:17
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It has been a roller coaster of a summer season. Stops and starts due to ever changing restrictions and advice, especially in the UK and Germany, and uncertainty in the local tourist sector of whether to open or not and if so, when. What does appear to be clear is that a growing percentage of the Mallorcan tourist industry knows when it is going to close.

A large number of hotels are going to throw in the towel this month, while others are, for the time being, determined to try and stretch the season until November. But, while Mallorca has fought hard to try and enjoy something of a summer season with a number of hotels reporting occupancy of 80 percent or more - the islands have had to fight against alien government and market forces.

Traffic lights aside, new summer holiday bookings for 2021 were down 83% on 2019 in the UK as seven in 10 travel companies plan to make redundancies after furlough ends and Germany’s foreign travel industry has struggled as well. Politicians in general have not had the hunger for people to travel for fear, as were are led to believe, of new variants.

But it could have been more of a case of governments wanting people to spend at home as opposed to abroad? 58% of UK bookings with departure dates in July or August this year were either postponed or cancelled, so how can Mallorca combat the ongoing lack of confidence in travelling? Mallorca is now a safe destination and that message has to broadcast loud and clear.