Alianza Hotelera is a consortium of hotel chains for the strategic development of the tourism industry. Its secretary, Fernando Gallardo, believes that growth of the US tourism market in Mallorca will outstrip that of European markets which have themselves grown quite significantly in recent years. France is a prime example, and Gallardo reckons that US growth will be double that of the French market.
"There was a significant rise last season and this year it is going to be even higher." In this regard, the United Airlines flights from New York are now three times a week as opposed to twice a week in 2022 and the schedule is three weeks longer. Meanwhile, Iberia have increased their US flights, having classified the US as a strategic market for the tourism industry.
Gallardo is not alone in Mallorca looking to the US and Canada as strong emerging markets which can be alternatives to the European markets. He feels that European tourist spending is hitting a ceiling, while there are ongoing economic concerns. The North American market can therefore act as an insurance.
It does offer higher purchasing power, but it is also a market that has a long way to go before it can truly represent a significant part of the tourist nationality mix.
There must be a question as to how rapidly this market will grow and to what size, regardless of developments such as United's increased frequency of service. In 2022, there was two per cent growth compared with 2019. For the whole of the Balearics, there were some 200,000 North American tourists, a figure that was behind, for example, Belgium (just under 300,000). The three largest foreign tourist markets in 2022 were Germany (4.3 million), the UK (3.4 million) and France (882,000). Spain was the third largest market overall (3.3 million).