Palma.Despite the fluctuating strength of the pound, package holidays to Spain and the Balearics are continuing to sell well in the UK with overall sales to Spain in line with the UK market as a whole and industry chiefs pleased with outlook for this Summer season which has just about got underway.
The overall UK market is five percent up on last year and Spain, which was five percent up at the end of March, was six percent up at the beginning of this month showing that Britons are still keen to come to Spain this year.
Package holiday figures for the Balearics in general are five percent up on March with sales to Majorca posting a month-on-month increase of four percent and Minorca 12 percent.
Brisk start
But, after a brisk start to the year, Ibiza has flat lined posting no growth at all but some industry sources said that after a huge surge in demand over Christmas and during the first few months of the year, capacity in Ibiza is at a premium.
Minorca is continuing to outstrip the market with the island being served by more Summer flights from the UK than ever this season while mainland Spain is struggling posting an increase in sales of only one percent.
But it is the Balearics and the Canary Islands which are driving the overall increase.
So, while the Balearics continues to head into a busy Summer with regards to the British market with bookings running all the way through to October at the moment, who are the big winners are losers in the market.
Morocco and Tunisia continue to dominate sales posting increases of 22 and 32 percent respectively.
Dubrovnik enjoyed a 15 percent increase in sales last month and is being tipped as the Mediterranean destination the Balearics needs to watch the most.
Surprise the market
Egypt continues to struggle with sales up by only three percent while the Turkish market has stagnated and the recent terrorist attacks expected to have a negative affect on the market as whole.
Cyprus has also been hit by its latest financial problem with sales tumbling by eight percent and the Caribbean is also having problems with sales down by two percent.
But, Greece continues to surprise the market posting a 10 percent increase in sales last month and that, according to the British travel industry, is because of an aggressive sales campaign the country's proactive Minister for Tourism has been running in the UK for the past six months and a host of joint campaigns the country has signed with the leading tour operators.
Here in Majorca, the Hotel Federation is already worried about over booking in some of the key resorts this summer with some hotels unable to take any more bookings.
And, because resort competition is so high this year, Majorca has been named as the second cheapest holiday destination for Britons , after the Algarve, by the Post Office Money Survey.