Death knell to Palma hotels

Vich, who replaced Gonzalo Echevarría in the position in February this year, said that the sharp decline in the number of tourists from the mainland who traditionally take holiday breaks in Palma during the winter has seriously eaten into profitability.

He explained that with the whole country having fallen back into recession, business for town-based hotels in Palma which long depended on winter tourism from elsewhere in Spain looks bleak. “By virtue of the Balearics being separate from the mainland, we're now having the fact that urban hotels will take a step out of all-year-round business back into a summer season only scenario,” Vich warned.

He said that heaping wood on the fire is the fact that the cost of flights to and from the mainland has risen spectacularly, around 40 percent Vich claimed. “Bookings have been severely affected because of the combination of all these factors,” he said.

Recovery
Vich acknowledged that getting back into profitability for urban-based hotels was going to be a tough challenge. “That is why the Palma Tourism Foundation 365 which has been set up to promote all-year-round tourism is of vital importance,” he pointed out.

Vich said that he and members of the Palma Hoteliers Association were going to collaborate closely with the foundation in which they have great confidence. He said that some major moves have already been made to encourage out of season tourism, citing the example of Sunday and other public holiday opening for shops in the centre of Palma. “This will promote the popularity of long weekend city breaks,” Vich forecast. “It was the best news for us during the first four months of the year.” However, looking forward to the coming summer season, Vich said that he expected it to be much the same as last year with perhaps an increase in the number of visitors from Italy, Scandinavia and Russia.