Summer bookings down by as much 25 per cent

The Balearics main hotel chains and travel groups are currently in talks with the leading tour operators in the UK, Germany and France in order to get the latest holiday booking figures for the summer, which officially starts a week from tomorrow. Tour operators have told their contracted hotels that bookings are still down by between 14 and 25 per cent on last year. The biggest drop is, as expected in the German market, followed by a 20 per cent decline in France and 14 per cent in the United Kingdom. The latest figures have done little to boost the hotel sector's spirits, hoteliers are fearing the worst with the introduction of the tourist tax just a week away and are hoping for a surge in late bookings. The Majorcan Hotel Federation was planning to launch a new promotional campaign in the three key markets aimed at the family holiday sector, but Germany's leading tour operators have advised the Federation not to proceed with direct media advertising in the wake of the bomb in Tunisia and the plane crash in Milan. Any how, the federation has not finished consulting its members to see how many are prepared to help cover the costs of the campaign. Many of the hoteliers consider that the most pressing issue is the tourist tax and that it is vital for the sector to get ready for its introduction on May 1. The campaign has therefore been postponed until September and in the meantime, the hoteliers will be dealing directly with the tour operators to try and revive the struggling Balearic holiday market which is performing in stark contrast to mainland Spain where holiday bookings are up on last year.