Boom year for trade thanks to tourist invasion

Trasmediterránea and Baleària share this optimism with the retailers' associations Asedas and Anged, and the association for the distribution of food and drink, Aded. Its president, Bartomeu Servera, says that the forecasts are very positive and point to a more than 5% increase over business levels in 2015, which in itself was a very good year. "Demand for all types of product is increasing from hotels, cafes, restaurants, clubs and supermarkets. The overall turnover of the 90 businesses in our association will increase over last year. We approximate that this will be 1,500 million euros, which will be a rise of 300 million."

Members of this particular association use 1,600 trucks and employ some 4,000 people. In addition to this number of vehicles are 1,000 more that supply large supermarkets and which use the shipping companies' cargo vessels. Both Trasmediterránea and Baleària are increasing the frequency and capacity of their ships. Baleària will be running two ferries a day from Barcelona and Valencia to Palma and one from Dènia. Trasmediterránea will be increasing capacity for the Valencia to Palma route by 30% and 20% for the Barcelona line. Turnaround of ships will also increase.

Asedas, the association for distributors and supermarkets, confirms that it is already in the process of storage for the summer. Its president in the Balearics, Gabriel Martí, says that they are expecting a 6% increase in volume this year and so hopes that the shipping companies can ensure transportation to meet demand. From Anged, the national association of large retailers, the word is that stores' logistics departments are already gearing up to meet the boom that it is coming this summer.

Yesterday, the Balearic Port Authority reported that last year the region’s ports handled 13 million tons of merchant shipping, six per cent more than during 2004 and a similar amount to 2008, pre-recession.