Britons braced for holiday price war as Balearics boom

Last Saturday night, the coach park at Palma airport was absolutely full and at 9.30pm, there were an estimated eight planes circling over Majorca waiting to land, with the bulk having flown in from the UK. Over half term, all the flights from Britain to Majorca are full. The British market is booming in the Balearics this summer. The number of British tourists coming to Majorca was up by thirty per cent last month and now the British tour operators are poised to launch an all-out price war to encourage holidaymakers to book early for summer 2002. The sabre rattling is being done by Thomson which has carried out a u-turn on its no-discount policy for early bookings only announced last month. It appears that the tour operator misjudged the British market, accustomed to early booking incentives and deals. It has now announced a series of twenty-five per cent reductions to try and win back those consumers who turned their backs on Thomson and booked their holiday with high street competitors offering discounted holidays. But, with holiday sales for 2002 moving very slowly, the market is expected to witness some huge reductions in order to try and get holiday bookings moving.