“2014 was a record year for tourism”

The Balearic Minister for Tourism, Jaime Martinez, yesterday predicted that 2015 is going to be a “historic” year for the Balearic tourist industry.Martinez said that, based on the provisional data for 2014, which saw growth in all markets apart from the Russian sector which is going to continue contracting as the conflict in  the Ukraine continues and the EU enforces sanctions, this coming year is going to be historic for the local tourist industry.
Martinez stated that records were broken last year and that all the early indications are pointing to those records being surpassed again over the course of this year.
“Last year was a record year not only because of the number of visitors to the Balearics, 13.5 million in total, four percent more than in 2013, but also tourist spending was nine percent more than 2009, when  the recession really hit the industry,” the Minister said.
Martinez also highlighted the fact that the British market, in particular, showed encouraging signs of growth returning to near pre recession figures while all other markets, German,Swiss, Italian, French, Scandinavian and Dutch all posted an increase in visitors.
What is also currently fueling an early rush on Balearic summer holidays in the United Kingdom is the strength of the pound against the euro and financial experts have said that the euro could remain weak for as long as the next three years, so that should lead to an increase in spending this year with holiday makers from the UK nearly 25 percent better off.
Last year, tourists spent 12 billion euros, on par with 2013, but the average daily spend was nine percent higher than in 2009 at 107,9 euros.