With the UK holiday market busy flogging the eastern Mediterranean, Majorca is holding its own thanks to TV shows. According to recent findings, Lastminute.com is reporting a resurgence in bookings for package holidays.
UK bookings of package holidays through its website jumped 28% in 2017 compared to 2016. And the trend is continuing into 2018, it claims, with package holiday bookings up 38% in January and February compared to last year. Holiday destinations popular in the 1990s are making a comeback, reporting almost 100% growth in bookings in the last 20 years.
The online travel agent believes TV shows such as Ex on the Beach (filmed on the Costa del Sol in 2018), Benidorm and Love Island, which was filmed on the island last year and enjoyed massive ratings, have contributed to the rise in popularity of some destinations. "Following a period of dwindling popularity, due to their ‘Brits Abroad’ connotations, these much loved beach resorts are now coming back bigger and better than ever," say Lastminute.
Even the Hairy Bikers with Marc Fosh in Palma gave the city a boost. "Not only are some of the world’s leading hotel chains opening in these resorts, but the desire for package holidays which combine value and convenience, makes these destinations ideal." In 2016 the hugely successful The Night Manager was partly shot on location in some of Majorca’s most beautiful locations and that helped to boost the island’s profile and this year a number of adverts, films and series are being filmed not only for the UK market but the global industry. For example, Love Island Australia and Germany are being filmed here.