An analysis by a Minorca-based company called Mabrian Technologies, which specialises in providing travel intelligence to the tourism industry, has assessed comparative hotel prices in six destinations - the Balearics, the Canaries, the Costa Brava, the Costa Blanca, and Antalya and Marmaris in Turkey.
The analysis, a cooperative exercise with Interface Tourism Spain (a tourism marketing consultancy), has looked at the prices of 2,130 hotels on offer via online travel agencies for the period 15 June to 15 September. It has differentiated between three, four and five star establishments, and for each category the Balearics work out as the most expensive: from 151 euros (three star) to 193 euros (four star) and 308 euros for five star.
By comparison, one of the two Turkish resorts is the cheapest for all three categories - Antalya with 40 euros three star and 64 euros four star, and Marmaris 163 euros for five star. Antalya shoots up to 211 euros for five star, the second highest price for the six destinations but some distance behind the Balearics average.
The Canaries are the second most expensive in Spain for five star (204 euros) and rank second overall for four star (136 euros). The Costa Blanca ranks second for three star at 100 euros. According to this analysis, therefore, the Balearics are between 42% and 50% more expensive than a second-placed competitor.
Running alongside this analysis, Mabrian also conducted a study of online reviews in arriving at an index of hotel satisfaction for the six destinations. This reveals that the Balearics were second (behind Marmaris) for three-star hotels, first when it came to four stars, and second after the Costa Blanca for five stars. In this latter category, the two Turkish resorts rated lowest, with Marmaris 14.5 points below the Balearics.
The analysis comes at a time when bookings for Turkey can be anything up to 80% higher than they were last year. But this percentage isn't surprising, given the correction in the holidaymaking market place which has occurred this year.
The challenge for the Balearics, though, will come if competitors' prices hold good for coming seasons. In the case of Turkey, they may well do. A major factor is the vast difference in labour costs. In the Balearics, even by comparison with Spanish competitors, labour costs are on the rise - 2018 is the first year of the four-year 17% wage increase agreement. Then there are other factors affecting price, such as seeking returns on investment for quality enhancement and modernisation. This investment does at least appear to be reflected in the satisfaction element of the analysis.