The summer tourism season next year will see the lowest amount of all-inclusive hotel offers being made in Majorca since 2007.
The progressive increase in holiday demand from Europe over the past three years has led to a change in the strategies of both tour operators and of hoteliers in the resorts; alternatives to all-inclusive (AI) are more profitable for the hotels.
There was a decrease in AI last summer in terms of the number of hotels offering it as well as in the number of places and overnight stays. The most recent AI statistics from the tourism ministry and the Majorca Hoteliers Federation are from 2012, when 242 hotels were offering AI, with more than 100,000 places with either AI exclusively or a mix of offers (half or full board or AI).
This was said to have been 18% of the total, with the percentage now down to 12%.
The resorts in which AI has stalled or is going down are Alcudia, Cala d’Or, Cala Millor, Calas de Mallorca, Can Picafort, Playa de Palma and especially Palmanova-Magalluf (i.e. the main resorts in Majorca).
UK tour operators, which had been the ones driving AI from 2006 to 2008, are now those turning their backs on it, with demand shifting to full board rather than AI.
The strength of the pound is said to be the main reason for this change.
Earlier this summer, directors of Jet2 said in Palma that because Britons were better off than they were this time last year and that the eurozone was proving much cheaper because of the strength of the pound, clients were able to be more selective and that a marked rise in the number of people looking for bed and breakfast, half-board and self-catering accommodation had been noted.
However, for large families on a tight budget, all-nclusive holidays continue to make the most financial sense because they can control their holiday economics much better.