British tourists to fill German void in market

The boom in British tourism to the Balearics this year will compensate for the forecast ten per cent fall in the German market, according to Balearic Tourism Minister Celesti Alomar. An up-beat Tourism Minister said yesterday that there are indications which point to a 30 per cent increase in the number of British tourists in certain tourist resorts. With financial reports coming out of Germany claiming that consumer confidence has taken a dive on the high street, Alomar said that a fall in the number of package holidays being sold in Germany is set to start falling and the drop could be by as much as six per cent, in comparison to the same period last year. The Minister did however stress that 1999 was an “exceptional year” and that despite the fall on the German market, figures will balance out similar to those registered in 1998, which was a “good year” for the tourist industry. Alomar also sighted a number of reasons for the relative lack of German interest in the Balearics this summer. The Minister said that the recent spell of good weather has made consumers postpone buying a holiday, although Britain has also been basking in a balmy mid-May. Hannover is hosting the Univerasl Exhibition in June and also the European Championships being hosted by Belgium and Holland is also enticing people to stay at home.