TW
0

British holiday bookings for the Balearics for the winter and next summer may well be down, but the decline does not necessarily mean that the British are not travelling. The Balearic tourist industry will do well to heed the advice from industry experts during the current crisis while keeping an open mind over why the Germans turned their backs on the region this summer and that perhaps, the British decline, should it prolong in to next year, is not related to September 11. According to the results of a MORI poll carried out for the Association of British Travel Agents earlier this month, only a tiny proportion of the British public, three per cent, said that war and terrorism will put them off overseas holidays next year. In the survey of 900 people who said that they had flown overseas in the past two years, interviewees were asked if they were likely to go on holiday overseas next year and around half said that next year's holiday plans have been unaffected. Thirteen per cent will however wait until later than usual before booking a holiday. “ABTA members can be heartened by these figures,” ABTA Chief Executive Ian Reynolds said “fears about flying seem to have abated and although sales are down at the moment, the vast majority of people still intend to take their annual holiday next year. “This research seems to back up our earlier work with the centre for Economic and Business Research which suggested that there will be a sharp upturn in bookings in January - we'll just have to sit tight,” Reynolds added. What the Balearics has to do in the meantime is push ahead with its promotional campaigns in the United Kingdom to make sure that when the “upturn” starts to take shape, Britain's most favourite summer holiday destination is still the country's number one choice, offering value for money and proving more attractive that its competitors.