23/04/2013 00:00
TW
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n of Travel Agents (Aviba), the Majorcan Federation of Hoteliers, the Majorcan Tourism Promotion Office and British and German Tourism Groups all say that Majorca is having its best start to the tourist season since 1999 with increases of 10 to 15 percent in May (compared with May 2005) and up to 20 percent in June (compared with June 2005), in the number of visitors and occupation of all types of accommodation. The President of Aviba, Mateo Pou, confirmed that May “has sold very well, and it is hoped that there will be 20 percent more clients”. “But, in our opinion, it will be June which will surprise the whole sector because, mainly thanks to the discounts given by the tour operators to offset the effects of the Football World Cup, there will be between 20 and 25 percent more accommodation occupation than last year”, he said. Pere Cañellas, President of the Hoteliers Federation, said that May and June are selling very well, with average increases of 10 percent for May and 20 percent for June. “June will be a very good month, something that has not happened here for many years”, said Cañellas.
The Majorcan Tourist Promotion Office, according to its President, Alvarez Middlemann, who is also director general of Air Berlin for Spain and Portugal, confirmed that this was a very good start to the season. He added that “if the bad weather continues in Europe this fortnight, the Balearics will have a big increase in tourists, both in those on package deals and in those organising their own itinerary”. The tourist groups TUI and Thomas Cook say that there will be a big rise in German tourism, more than 10 percent.
They also say that the number of tourists coming from the United Kingdom will be above the number for May and June 2005, and added to this there is a also a big rise in tourists coming from the Spanish mainland. The other Balearic Islands, according to British, German and Spanish tourist groups, will also have a better start to the tourist season than in 2005. The rise in German tourism, along with the recovery of the British market, although there has been less interest in Minorca, will have a positive effect on the hotel occupation levels and on the number of visitors, both foreign and national, passing through the airports of Mao and Ibiza. The tourist season in the Balearics is the most important season of the year for the economy. This is because a rise in tourists means a rise in productivity of both tourist and general goods throughout the islands. This year all the indications are that the Balearics, especially Majorca, will surpass all figures for preceeding years at the start of the tourist season.