Palma is increasingly fashionable in months other than those of summer. From late September, when the summer season begins to wind down, there are still many visitors to the city, and this holiday weekend will be no exception. From today until Wednesday next week the airport can anticipate some 170,000 passengers, around 35,000 more than over last year’s Constitution Day bridge weekend.
This increase is having a direct impact on accommodation in Palma, which is unusual in being a part of the island where mostly all the hotels are open all year (in the centre of the city at any rate). Javier Vich, the president of the Palma’s hoteliers, expects occupancy to be around 45%, which will be roughly the same as last year. But if the number of passengers through the airport is going up markedly, why will the hotels not have greater occupancy?
The explanation would seem to lie with the availability of private apartments for tourist rental. Though it is difficult to quantify the exact number of visitors choosing this type of accommodation, it is nevertheless the case that the hotels aren’t going to benefit particularly from the increased number of visitors.
Since the establishment of the Palma 365 Foundation, which is responsible for the promotion of Palma as an all-year destination, the city has attracted increasing numbers of visitors each month of the year, something that retailers and restaurant owners can verify. Alfonso Robledo, the president of the Majorca Restaurants’ Association, has acknowledged on more than one occasion that new boutique hotels have helped in reviving the sector all year