EASTER BOOST FOR LOCAL HOTELIERS

PALMA
For those hoteliers who decided to open for Easter, the gamble appears to have paid off with occupancy at around 70 percent, between five and ten percent better than Easter last year.

But, with Easter falling early, half of the hotel sector continues to remain closed and many do not intend to open until the beginning or middle of May, the eve of the peak summer season which is a week to 15 days later than usual, according to the President of the Association of Balearic Hotel Chains, Aurelio Vazquez.

So, while those establishments which have opened for Easter are enjoying a better period than last year, the market as a whole is still weak with so many hotels remaining closed.

According to Vazquez, overall bookings are currently worse than this time last year and this mirrors what UK travel chiefs have been warning the Bulletin over the past few months.

DIFFICULT
A number of factors, such as the current lack of flights between the UK and the Balearics due to the alleged lack of market demand, the weak Pound against the Euro making the region appear an expensive destination in comparison to mainland and non Euro zone locations and the new tendency for travellers to book late, are making it very difficult for local hoteliers to gauge how the season is going to perform, especially between now and the start of the summer season. According to Vazquez, it has been either local or clients from the mainland which have been booking into hotels over the long Easter weekend but hoteliers have had to offer significant savings to attract the domestic market.

The three main areas of activity over Easter were the Playa de Palma, Palma and Alcudia.
Along the Playa de Palma, 76 of the 130 hotels, a little less than 60 percent, have opened and, according to Vazquez, this is a similar figure to Easter last year.

However, the President of the Playa de Palma Hotel Federation, Francisco Marin, claims that there have been no indications of a recovery in any of the resort's markets, domestic or foreign, and that hotel occupancy during the first quarter of this year has been more or less the same as the first three months of 2009. Marin said that he is not particularly optimistic about the next few weeks because it is virtually impossible to project any forecasts because people are booking later and later.