Passangers delayed at an airport

Passangers delayed at an airport. | ELIJAH NOUVELAGE

Jason MoorePalma01/07/2022 06:00
TW
1

At last someone has told it, like it is. The chaos at European airports, Palma included, is having a negative impact on holiday bookings, accoridng to leading local hoteliers. Tourists may have been missing the sun dramatically over the last two years but they are not prepared to sit at the airport waiting for their delayed or cancelled flight.

It is amazing how badly prepared some parts of the tourist industry are for the sudden surge in travel which was widely expected at the end of the pandemic. The joy of the freedom of travel is being dented by serious airport and airline situations which should have been iron-out weeks ago. Mallorca had been heading for a record season but doubts have started to appear, helped in no small part by the delays, queues and flight canceliations.

The forecasts continue to be good and the island will welcome more tourists than back in 2019, which was considered a record year. But, doble digit growth forecast (compared to 2019) appear to be widely off the mark. Infact, there does appear to be a drop off in tourism over the last few weeks. Mallorca is busy....but not as busy as many had thought. There are plenty of lesson to be learnt or even relearnt from this holiday season. There appears to be a shortfall in staff in all quarters. What is clear though is if the travel industry wants people to go on holiday they must have the tools in place to make it happen.