It is not only this year's performance of the British holiday market about which there are mounting concerns in Majorca. The latest reports from the German industry also point towards a downturn, with an increasing number returning to Turkey, Greece and Egypt as they opt for cheaper destinations.
FVW, the number one source of information for German travel trade news, reported last week that German holidaymakers are heading back to Turkey. According to package holiday booking figures for January, there is a move away from high-price Spain, and sales are particularly strong for Antalya.
Bookings of package holidays with Antalya as the destination airport effectively doubled last month as German consumers regained trust in holidays in Turkey, the latest monthly figures from leading reservations provider Traveltainment showed.
The 99% surge in January, following high double-digit increases in December (+36%) and November (+49%), left Antalya in the top spot among the ten largest destination airports for German holidaymakers with a 24% share. The January booking figures confirmed recent surveys and comments from tour operators about Turkey’s strong comeback on the German market.
Egypt also performed well again last month with a very high 61% rise in bookings to Hurghada, following similar strong growth figures in December (+55%) and November (+72%). The Red Sea airport had 17% of bookings for the ten largest airports last month.
Greece continued to grow well last month on top of the previous year’s record season, the Traveltainment figures showed. There was a solid 9% increase in bookings to Heraklion airport reflecting good demand for Crete, a slight 2% rise for Rhodes and a strong 25% increase for Kos.
Turkey, Egypt and Greece are clearly benefiting at present from a trend away from Spain, where German package holiday prices are noticeably higher this year.
Demand for Majorca dropped again last month with a 15% slump in German package bookings to Palma. Majorca suffered an identical 15% fall in December as well. German bookings for the Canary Islands fell even more strongly in January, continuing the downward trend of the last few months.
The biggest destination, Fuerteventura, again fell by 8%, as in December. Las Palmas dropped by 19% in January following the previous month’s 18% decline. Tenerife (South) saw a 21% slump after a 14% fall in December, while Arrecife was down by 24% following a 21% drop in December.
There is, however, a caveat with all these figures. They are for package deals. As previous reports regarding last year have shown, German direct bookings for Majorca went up while the sale of package holidays decreased.
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That will stop the drunken antics of the German OAPs as reported not so long ago! More sunbeds for us Brits as well, bonus. Just drop your prices and people will return.
It’s a shame if Mallorca needs to wake up and stop the arrogance. I grew up in Mallorca as a child and I return ‘home’ every year. However, the industry needs to do something. Either do All Inclusive or don’t... I’ve done it a couple of times in Palma Nova and it’s embarassing. Charge more and do it properly and you’ll get a better quality of client.And what is all this with the rentals? Get a grip!Invest in better service at the airport.. again, it’s a joke.. I’m sure there is a little man that watches the English moving like confused chickens looking for their luggage whilst he changes the luggage belt number. It never seems to happen to our friends from Bavaria! I don’t agree with one of the comments on here though about the sunbeds. However, when I pay for a sunbed, I expect the beach and the water to be clean and for the last couple of years it’s been dirty and polluted. Maybe it needs Mallorca to have a downturn to realise how important ‘the pain in the arse’ tourists are? However, the prices will go up as that’s the mentality.. and then less people will visit! It’s the SERViCE that needs to improve.... then people WILL pay more!
Now we know why the hoteliers want to ban private rentals.
Majorca is one big rip off let me explain for a couple spending a 14 day holiday I will be paying a hotel tax of nearly £80 also the sun beds £15 a day and I will be £30 worse of with the exchange rate of £500 . Now Turkey no bedroom tax we do not pay for beach sun beds and I am £75 better off with the exchange rate wake up Majorca you are getting to expensive
Where’s the “W” when you need it
No wonder the germans going elswhere, prices are going up strongly in spain, we pay 6700-7000 euro for 2 weeks vacation, thats ALOT. Many spain should think about if it is worth it in the long run to raise the prizes constantly. Just my opinion, and i love spain really much. But at some point you have look at it as a hole, do i Think its worth it.
I take it the Germans were getting beat! Or maybe someone told them the tourist tax was going up again. More likely the were just sad at the thought of the UK leaving the EU.