Between October 2017 and March this year, some six million seats were scheduled for planes at Palma's Son Sant Joan Airport. The airports authority Aena will not release figures for the coming low season until after the summer, but all the signs are that there will be a further increase.
Much of the growth of tourism in low season is being attributed to Palma's Palacio de Congresos. The conference and exhibitions centre, which opened in April last year, is said to be having a positive impact on hotel occupancy in Palma and on all commercial activity in the low season. It has become a genuine economic motor for Palma and the rest of the island. Said to have become.
Javier Vich, the president of the Palma hoteliers association, points to the dynamic impact of the Palacio in terms of increased business for boutique hotels, restaurants and cultural tourism. The forecast for the low season is very good, he notes.
In Playa de Palma, the president of the association there, Francisco Marín, says that tourism niches such as hiking and cycling are creating benefits in the resort and in other parts of Majorca. "There are more hotels open, higher occupancy and better economic activity." On top of the niche products, there is also, he notes, a larger programme for Imserso vacations this winter - holidays for Spanish senior citizens.
The niche offers are ones that have been picked up to an extent by tour operators (gastronomy and golf are among others), and their programmes for this low season add to the optimism for more tourism over this coming winter.
For the government, this is all proof of the success of the Better in Winter promotion and of the aim of extending the tourism season.
