The Balearic Transport Federation estimates that the fleet of coaches on the islands has increased by around 15% over the past five years. At the same time, there has been a reduction in the average size of the vehicles.
Changing tourist habits and demand are influencing transport operators' decisions, especially a progressive fall in demand for package holidays.
The federation's manager, Petra Mut, says: "We have an increasingly independent tourist, with small groups of people who want to see as many things as possible and visit as many places as possible in a short time. They come for fewer days than before, but they move around much more."
Operators therefore need greater flexibility, and so there are smaller vehicles. Large coaches, ideal for the movement of large groups of people, are less efficient given the change in demand and are being withdrawn from service.
The reduction in the average stay of tourists has fallen in recent years. It is now around six days. While holidays are becoming shorter, the numbers of tourists have been increasing - quite dramatically so. As well as the impact of changing demand on coach operators, there has also been an increase in the demand for hire cars.
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Surely this is another example of the corrupt EU forcing Spain to use smaller buses to punish innocent Brits.
More buses then. And more frequently running because tourists are staying for less time making turnovers ever shorter. Add the increasing volume of tourists too and you’ve got more congestion, pollution and locations permanently saturated all season. Mallorca is becoming more like a theme park than anything else. Hopefully this Govt will pull its finger out on its supposed agenda for sustainability.
Smaller vehicles mean more drivers, and more holiday reps. With an already shortage of drivers on the island for coaches, where are they going to cover the supply and demand?
Large coaches are less efficient for meeting changing demands . Ha ha ha What they really mean is the cattle do not like being crowded into such large vehicles.