They say they expect a “good” season but they are not that convinced that it will be “spectacular” in terms of tourist occupancy: “At most it will match the figures of 2023”, said its president, Pedro Marín, at the ITB travel fair in Berlin.
He added that the market, at the moment, is not living up to the forecasts.
For this reason, they believe that “it will not be an extraordinary year, as all the forecasts had predicted.
“The fact that Easter falls so early seemed to benefit the hotel sector, but once the festivities are over, in the first two weeks of April, when bookings drop, it will have to stay open with very aggressive offers until the start of the season,” explained Marín.
As for last-minute bookings, which make it difficult to predict occupancy, the association said it has not observed any significant differences to the trend of the past two years.
“The forecasts said that bookings for these dates would be seven or eight points higher than in 2023, but now the reality is that we are two points below the forecasts,” said the president.
In fact, “in March, 35 percent of the hotel accommodation in Playa de Palma was expected to open”, and of these, this week “there are five hotels that will not open due to last-minute cancellations, so they are postponing their opening until April”.
The association has highlighted the increase in the cost of flights, particularly from Germany, the main source market for the resort.
Marín expressed concern about the 10 percent increase in ticket prices, “especially from cities such as Berlin, Cologne and Düsseldorf, which have become almost 50 percent more expensive compared to last year”.
Nevertheless, the hoteliers are confident that the trend will be reversed due to the lack of airline sales.
The association pointed out that the main tour operator in the German market, TUI, is expecting a 10 percent increase in German visitors this season.
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Richard PearsonOh, you didn't read the article, but only looked at the photo. Hint: the article isn't about ""Germans are pigs". It's curious why they'd use that photo in this context. Funny how that works, isn't it?
a) Which context ? b) If you are correct, then probably used in the Spanish press also, so thousands more were as well c) I have never claimed to be an expert on Magaluf rubbish, like you obviously are and finally d) What were you doing in Magaluf on a July Saturday night ? Checking out the going prices ?
David HollandTrue. But you normally wouldn't see that on Playa de Palma either. That photo looks familiar though. Wasn't this the headline photo the MDB used a couple years back for an article about some issue with rubbish collection in Arenal? Funny they'd use that same photo in this context (?) Oh, and Richard, although you're an expert on Magaluf, apparently you haven't seen (or conveniently forget) punta ballena on a Sunday morning in July. It's not pretty. Still, one could be equally selective of a photo of that to be used in context of (foreigner) "tourism forecast". Oddly though, other publications don't seem to feel the need to do that. Only the MDE 🇬🇧 But you bought it, which testifies to how well it works.
That photo says it all.
Richard PearsonFunny you say that. Wouldn’t see it most German cities either.
On second thoughts, maybe it’s a sample of the “high spenders” that Morgan keeps going on about. If so, Magaluf and Palma Nova beware !
You normally never see that amount of rubbish in Magaluf, especially on the sea front. Looks like pigs at the trough.