03/10/2013 00:00
TW
0

by Staff Reporter

PALMA
FIGURES released by the regional government yesterday on the numbers of tourists visiting the Balearics this year showed that there was a 5.5 percent increase between the months of January and August.

The Tourism Research Institute (CITTIB) reported that a total in the region of 9.2 million visitors came to the Islands during this period, 484'972 more than the corresponding months in 2006. The Balearic ministry for Tourism confirmed that the Islands of Ibiza and Formentera were the locations which had witnessed the greatest rise in the number of tourists with a 12.6 percent increase (161'480 visitors) over 2006 figures to reach 1.4 million between the months of July and August this year.

Minorca laid claim to a total of 817'099 during this period, a figure which represented an increase of 4.4 percent in respect of the first eight months of 2006 when 782'740 visited the island. Majorca reported the least growth of tourists from January to August this year, with a rise of 4.3 percent, but as expected, it was still the Island which received the largest number of visitors (7.01 million) during this period in 2007. Looking at the key client markets, numbers of visitors from the mainland of Spain were up by 21.4 percent from January to August this year, reaching a figure of 2'095'506. Of this total, 1.3 million visited Majorca, 420'346 went to Ibiza and Formentera and 298'249 to Minorca.

At the other end of the scale, the number of tourists from Germany were reported to be 0.4 percent down on last year with 2'785'529 visiting the region from January to August this year, 9'861 less than for the same period in 2006. Of their total, 2.5 million spent their holidays on Majorca, 201'657 on Ibiza and Formentera and 55'431 on Minorca.

The British market produced a total of 2'543'538 tourists to the Balearics: 1.6 million to Majorca; 484'581 to Ibiza and Formentera; and 363'941 to Minorca. These figures represent an increase of 2.8 percent on the corresponding period in 2006 when 2'473'523 visitors from Britain came to the Islands.

Increased numbers of visitors means more job opportunities for people working on the Islands. In the hotel and restaurant industry, there was a 4.7 percent rise in staffing levels in respect of 2006, with a total of 110'114 jobs registered as being operative, nearly 5'000 more than for the same period in 2006. July this year witnessed an historic number of 112'401 people employed in this sector.