13/08/2013 00:00
TW
0

THE positive response of the tourist markets during July meant that Palma airport, for the second time in its history, exceeded the figure of 3 million passengers passing through it in one month. The last record was set in August 2005, when 3'015'615 travellers passed through Son Sant Joan. According to predictions from AENA (the Spanish Airports Authority), during July 3'058'930 passengers passed through Palma airports, which is 163'660 more than in July 2005. The same thing is happening in the airports of Mahon (Minorca) and Ibiza.
These two airports will exceed the statistics of 1999 during the Summer tourist season.
The main causes of this rise in traffic through Palma airport are more Spanish tourism, new offers to attract tourists and more flights by the “low cost” airlines. There has never been such a spectacular rise in passengers through the airport as there was in July.
This is also having a positive effect on the levels of hotel occupation in Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera.
These are between five and eight points above that recorded in May, June and July of 2005.
The President of the Association of Hotel Chains, Francisco Miralles, confirmed that the 2006 season is turning out to be better than expected. “There are hoteliers who have had to refuse any more bookings until the beginning of October, so the Summer season 2006 is proceeding without the frustrations of 1999 when there were problems of overbooking. “This year, in our opinion, the best thing is that the hotel chains on the islands have sold their places at the brochure price without any special offers”, explained Miralles. For the President of the Majorcan Hotel Federation, Pere Cañellas, the increase in passengers and tourists through Palma airport this year, “is positively affecting hotel occupation throughout the island. In July it was very good and for August it will continue along the same lines until the end of the month. There will be no ups and downs as in other years, thanks to the rise in Spanish and German tourism, and the progressive recovery of British tourism”. As for the reservations to the Balearics from the British market Turespaña said, in its trend report for this Summer, that tourism from the United Kingdom is recovering, recording a rise of one percent as opposed to the fall of 11 percent last year, “when it was the least visited holiday destination in Spain”. Turespaña forecasts that British tourism will have grown by around three percent by the end of this season, mainly because of people making their own arrangements. In the graphic, the trends of the main tourist markets can be seen.
This highlights the rise in Spanish tourism during all the Summer months in Majorca, Ibiza and Minorca.