Tourism to Majorca falls by 10 percent

The number of tourists visiting the Balearics in the first three months of this year plummeted by more than 10 percent but local minister for tourism, Celesti Alomar, said that there was no need to be alarmed. He blamed the fall on the fact that Easter falls much later this year and said that bookings for the summer were looking very good. Almost 100'000 fewer tourists came on holiday from January 1 to March 31, according to figures released yesterday. German tourism in this period fell by 12 percent. While Alomar appears not to be concerned, there are some within the tourist industry who feel that the water crisis and the threatened tourist tax will have a negative affect on holiday bookings. Tourists, writing in the Bulletin have said that they would think twice about coming to the island if they had to pay the surcharge. The figures also come just weeks after a report from the Costa del Sol which stated that large numbers of German tourists were being poached away because they considered that Majorca had become too expensive. This sizeable fall also makes a mockery out of plans to make the Balearics an all-year-round holiday destination. Majorca is the big loser with Minorca and Ibiza suffering insignificant falls in tourism.