British tourists at Palma airport

British tourists waiting at Son Sant Joan airport in Palma. | Ruiz Collado

Jason MoorePalma10/11/2023 09:46
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No news is good news as they say and this was the case at the World Travel Market fair in London this week. All senior local politicians were at the fair and they were given the news which was music to their ears... a fantastic season for British tourism this year and next year could be even better.

Mark Tanzer, the Chief Executive of the Association of British Travel Agents, told me that even they were surprised at how well the British market had performed this year to Mallorca. It was a question of against all odds with many people believing that the cost of living crisis would take its toll on British tourism.

As Steve Heapy the Chief Executive of Jet2 said people may give up their subscription to Netflix but they would still go on holiday. Mallorca and the Balearics has little to fear from the British tourism market, the love affair is alive and well. Infact talk at the World Travel Market centered on how they would get even more British tourists to the island in low season.

A longer holiday season now looks very likely with a sizeable number of hotel chains opening from February to November. I don´t think I have ever attended a World Travel Market which was so upbeat for the Balearics. It was two days of good news.

One thing the local authorities did make very clear was that the islands would welcome British tourists with opened arms. There was even talk of reintroducing the campaign, A Tourist, A Friend. All very positive stuff.