Late boom in Balearics says Tourism Minister

Delgado said in Parliament that the high tourist season throughout the Balearics had been “very positive” and reservations as far ahead as the third week in October were still very good, especially on Majorca and Minorca.

Specifically, on Minorca, booking forecasts for September and October are “better” than last year, with 80% of available places reserved for September and 50% for the first half of October.

Delgado said that the number of tourists coming to Majorca had risen by 2.8% in June, July and August compared to last year.
Analysing the visitors coming to the Balearics by nationality during this period, there was a rise of 0.7% in the number of Spaniards coming to the Islands, an increase of 0.8% in German tourists, 7.4% more Britons and a very significant 26.8% more Russians.

In the third quarter of the year (June, July, August), the number of passengers arriving at Palma airport rose by 1.7% with an increase of 1% of people from the United Kingdom, 3.7% more Germans, 9% more French and 40.8% more Russians. In all there were 17'000 more passengers at Palma airport than were handled during the same quarter last year. The figure compensated for the decline in national tourism of -10.3% during the quarter, and -5.4% less Italians.

Hotel occupation also improved in June this year, with 82.82% of all places filled, 0.6% more than the same month last year; in July, hotel occupancy stood at 91.65%, an increase of 0.7%; and in August, hotels were 93.18% full resulting in a year-on-year increase of 4.5% in overnight stays.

There were 34'556 more people employed in the Balearics in June this year, 4% more than in 2011; in July this year, a further 37'980 people had jobs, 8% more than the same month in 2011 and 37'176 more in August, an increase of 4.3% compared to the same month in 2011. Delgado said that seasonal results had also been very positive in Ibiza and Formentera compared to last year. In the case of the British, a further 5.8% had visited.