Britons surge in Mallorca

When I stayed at a hotel in Cala Mesquida at the end of last month-start of October, I was very surprised to see that a good 80 percent of the guests were British - the manager even confirmed this to me and now Palma is heaving with British holidaymakers. Could travel habits already have begun to change?

Are the British avoiding the scorching peak summer months and waiting for the island to cool down, not to mention calm down with fewer tourists? Or is it the case of parents, second home owners and retirees waiting for the schools to go back and prices to fall?

Now is obviously the season for anyone wanting to enjoy the island’s great hiking, cycling, golfing and many of the other activities, but the vast majority of hotels outside of Palma will be closing over the coming weeks, if they have not already.

So, that means the focus is very much going to be on Palma, and the shops, bars, hotels and restaurants are enjoying brisk trade thanks, to a large extent, to the British.

Could the peak summer months have quite literally peaked? Are we seeing the first proper signs of a longer season, an all-year tourist industry which will eventually spill out from Palma and be embraced by other parts of the island which have so much to offer? That said, we’ll be back to the chicken-and-egg debate of hotels and flights. It will be interesting to see what headlines emerge from the World Travel Market in London next month.