Tourist health checks at Palma Airport. | J. Sevilla

TW
0

Hotel occupancy will exceed 55% at Easter in Mallorca on average with occupancy at 5-star establishments at 100%.

According to the Hotel Business Federation of Mallorca, or FEHM, 93 hotels will be operational in the main tourist areas of the Island.

Iberostar, Meliá, Riu, Protur, Viva, Barceló, Grupotel, Allsun, Hipotels, Be Live and Arabella will start reopening next week to accommodate an influx of German tourists. Allsun reopened three hotels this week and the TUI Group is opening the Robinson Club Cala Serena in Santanyí on Saturday.

Preparations are underway at hotels across the island to make sure all Covid protocols are in place.

"Tomorrow we will receive 200 guests, and that figure will increase over the next week with the arrival of more German tourists," said Resort General Manager, Holger Reinshagen.

"This Easter 93 hotels will be open, which is 11.2% of the Hotel Sector in Mallorca, compared to 722 in Easter 2019,” said FEHM President Maria Frontera. “We expect the hotels to remain operational between now and the start of the summer season."

Reservations

Frontera also pointed out that reservations depend on a number of factors.

"We are dealing with highly volatile scenarios, so it’s impossible to forecast what will happen in two weeks time,” she added.

Hotel occupation at hotels that reopen will also depend on the number of flights from Germany.

TUI Fly, Eurowings, Condor, Ryanair and Lufthansa are increasing their flight programmes to accommodate demand and Tour Operators, including TUI, FTI, DER Touristik, Shauinsland and Alltours say there’s been a gradual increase in bookings for Mallorca since Sunday March 14.

The fact that Eurocontrol has confirmed that airlines will not lose their ‘slots’ gives them more flexibility to expand or cancel flights to Mallorca.

Mallorca is returning to the market thanks to the efforts made to reduce infection over the last month and demand for the Island is now the same as destinations such as Greece and Turkey,” said the German Association of Travel Agencies & Tour Operators or DRV.

Demand for 5-star accommodation has come as a complete surprise and Nixe Palace, Mardavall, Maricel, Son Vida and Arabella hotels say reservations are solid.

“Occupation has reached 100%, despite price increases between March 26 and April 11 and it’s German tourists with high purchasing power that are reserving 5-star accommodation,” explained Nice Palace Director, Francisco Serrano.

Vueling has announced 5 new routes from Germany to Palma, from Düsseldorf, Hannover, Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart between March 26 and April 11, with more than 7,900 seats available on 44 scheduled flights.