Independent traveller´s paradise

While the Balearics' “mass tourism” market is struggling this summer, the region's rural tourism industry is booming. In June, the region's rural tourism market was the third busiest in Spain behind Castilla y León and Cataluña. While the numbers of rural tourists are relatively small in comparison to the sun and sea market, the fact that the Balearics' sector is enjoying a healthy and successful summer is further evidence that the travel market is changing. This summer the islands' apartments and self catering facilities have been some of the busiest in Spain suggesting that an increasing number of people are turning away from package holidays and preferring to make their own arrangements. The birth of the no-frills airline has helped fuel the independent traveller market and with the likes of easyJet operating as many as three flights a day from the UK to Majorca, the Balearics has become an independent traveller's paradise, as all the recent travel features in the British media have highlighted with the focus no longer on package holidays and tourist resorts.