Increase in British tourism cancels out German slump

The end of the summer season this year certainly came with a bang and last month, the final month of the summer season, saw the number of tourists flying into the Balearics slump by 82 percent, in comparison to October 1999 - but it is not all bad news, British tourism is up by three percent this year. According to figures released by the Balearic Ministry for Tourism yesterday, 89'919 less tourists flew into the region last month and Majorca was the worst hit. The number of holidaymakers flying into Majorca last month fell by 98 percent, equivalent to 81'386 tourists less than October last year. Ibiza saw figures fall by 41 percent and Minorca just two percent. Considering that the vast majority of visitors, either from the mainland or overseas fly to the Balearics, the drop in traffic is significant. While the domestic market also bottomed out last month with a 21 percent fall in the Spanish market, the number of Germans who usually visit the region during October, fell by 96 percent and 53 percent, 20'175, less Britons visited the region. Last month 7'494 people visited Majorca, 1'517 Ibiza and 989 travelled to Minorca. But the sharp drop in October does not give an accurate picture of how the market developed from January to the end of last month.