Reservations soar in Majorca. | EFE

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News that Spain’s borders are opening on Sunday, June 21st has prompted a significant rise in reservations from tourists in the main European markets in the last week.

“The reactivation starts with very low figures, but there will be a gradual normalisation of tourist activity. The requests for reservations are led by Poland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France and Germany,” said Aviba.

Tourist Travel Agencies representing Foreign Tour Operators, indicate that there’s also been a marked increase in bookings from tourists in the UK "who will be able to fly to Majorca from mid-July as long as their de-escalation figures are positive".

“One problem that issuing markets have found is that hotel opening dates don’t appear on their websites because the vast majority of them are still closed. There is some pressure from the market to rectify this, but it is the sole responsibility of hotel companies,” said Aviba.

The biggest demand for reservations is for hotels in Playa de Palma, Cala Millor, Alcudia-Can Picafort, Muro, Santanyi, Peguera and Santa Ponsa.

Hotel chains

But Gabriel Llobera, Chairman of the Association of Hotel Chains, or ACH, chairman Gabriel Llobera, is not so optimistic.

We still register more cancellations than reservations, although we expect that trend to turn around as the current situation normalises,” he said.

Llobera is also predicting that German tourism will steadily increase.

“17% of the German population has shown its predisposition to travel abroad, which implies that about 9 million Germans are going to travel outside their country and we want Majorca to be the most chosen destination, because it will benefit the entire Tourism Industry and the economy here and in the rest of the Balearic Islands. "

Hotel Associations believe that at least 30% of Majorca’s tourist accommodation will be open in July and probably more if the current ERTE problem is solved.

"There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment about what may happen with the ERTE, because that could limit the opening of more hotels."

There will be a considerable increase in flights and passenger numbers at Palma airport this Sunday, for the first time since the State of Emergency was declared in March.