Russian holiday bookings for Majorca this summer are forecast to increase by three times. This is because of more air routes, economic improvement in Russia and a better exchange rate.
Airline places are going up 70%, with Aeroflot, Azur Air and S7 to the fore. Stanislav Lazarov, director of tour operator Anex Tour in Spain and Portugal, said at a presentation on Friday that the growth in the market is "unstoppable", it having stalled and indeed gone into reverse because of the crisis in Crimea. "The potential is very high, and Majorca will benefit."
Anex have scheduled four flights a weeks from Moscow to Palma and a further flight from St. Petersburg. Lazarov added that sales are exceeding expectations and are above last year's. The company expects to bring 60,000 holidaymakers to Majorca this summer, but the scope for growth is significant. Crete and Rhodes can get as many as 500,000 Russian tourists; "Majorca could have these numbers as well."
Sixty per cent of Anex clients will be in four and five-star hotels in Playa de Palma and parts of Calvia - Paguera especially. Twenty five per cent will be in the Alcudia Bay resorts and the remainder in Cala d'Or and Cala Millor.
