Demand from friends and families as well as from businesses. | J. Mora

TW
0

For Mallorca's restaurants, Christmas has already arrived. It came early in November and will extend into January, a period when restaurants can generate up to 15% of their annual turnover.

Christmas this year is being viewed as something of a salvation, the restaurant sector having spent much of the summer pointing to a fall in turnover attributed to lower tourist spending. The president of CAEB Restaurants Association, Juanmi Ferrer, said a few weeks ago that profits over the summer were between eight and twelve per cent, whereas restaurants would hope for up to 20%.

Related news

The president of the Pimem Restaurants Association, César Amable, says that reservations are going well. He expects business to be at least on a par with last year, when bookings were up 10% compared with 2022 and menu prices rose by some five per cent - typically between 35 and 60 euros.

Tomeu Mas, manager of the CAEB association, explains that menu prices have risen slightly this year because of increased personnel and raw material costs. He is predicting a three per cent increase in reservations, adding that businesses can expect higher turnover but not higher profits.

While business lunches and dinners provide much of the Christmas period demand, there has been a growing demand in recent years for meals for families and groups of friends. More restaurants now open on Christmas Eve than used to be case, precisely because of a change in consumer habits and to the tradition of eating at home.