Last month, the Balearic tourist industry enjoyed the best July for the past 20 years. All three of the Balearics’ airports - Ibiza, Mahon and Son San Joan in Majorca - handled a record number of passengers and the region’s ports posted an increase in ferry passengers movements.
The various hotel federations have reported that average occupancy levels were 85 per cent, an increase in comparison to last year, while demand for self-catering accommodation has increased by 15 per cent in the Balearics.
The two markets which are proving to be the driving forces behind this record season are the UK and the domestic sectors. The strong pound against the euro is fuelling the British market, which at a national level now dominates 22 per cent of all foreign tourism spend compared to the Germans’ 12.4 percent share of the market, while the revival in the domestic market has proved crucial.
The latest Egatur tourist spend survey by the national tourism ministry points to a 10.4% increase in foreign tourist spending in the Balearics over the first seven months of the year. This volume of spend - 5,594 million euros - places the Balearics at number three among Spanish regions. Spend in July alone was up by 14.1% compared with 2014, with average spend per tourist at 1,035 euros, which translated as a daily spend of 122 euros.