Tourism

Growth in 2019 Russian tourism in Majorca

The Balearics will be represented at the Moscow tourism fair in March. | Archive

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma04/02/2019 18:43

There was a significant dip in Russian tourism in Majorca because of the conflict with Ukraine and the fall in the value of the ruble. Russian tour operators went out of business because of problems that affected their operations in various countries. The most notable failure was Natalie Tours.

A 2014 slump of some 50% in Majorca has been steadily reversed and for 2019 there are optimistic signs for growth. S7 Airlines will start flights from St Petersburg to Palma on 26 April and has also announced a daily service from Moscow. The company is anticipating 20% more traffic. Aeroflot will be flying between Moscow and Palma from June.

Anex Tour, which has yet to finalise its programme, will be increasing flights from the middle of June to the middle of September.

The president of Fergus Hotels, Pep Cañellas, who has good knowledge of the Russian market, says that tour operators realise that beds are going to be available this summer. This will be the case if UK and German tour operators manage to release themselves from contractual agreements. It was suggested last week that they have been seeking to do so. With beds being available, prices should be reasonable and attractive.

Russian tourism is comparatively small. At its height in past years, there were some 160,000 tourists for the whole of the Balearics. In its annual figures, the tourism ministry doesn't identify Russian tourism as such. It is included with "others".