The collapse of some tour operators in recent months, ongoing concerns about Thomas Cook and the difficulties faced by certain airlines have all added to uncertainty for the Majorcan tourism industry.
Wave Reisen is the latest German tour operator to cease trading. It did so last week, while earlier in the year there were the failures of Galavital and H&H Touristik. A British tour operator, The Holiday Place, ceased trading at the end of May. The French airline Aigle Azur suspended operations at the start of this month.
The vice-president of the Majorca Hoteliers Federation, Maria José Aguiló, suggests that these failures are indicative of a more serious situation than in the past. "Not all businesses have known how to adapt to changes in tourism activity and new consumer habits. A consequence has been tour operator and airline bankruptcies."
She says that businesses of a certain size don't have sufficient financial backing in order to survive. For Majorca's hoteliers, these collapses can have both direct and indirect impacts. Systems of protection provided by travel associations help to minimise the consequences, but Aguiló adds that the problems being encountered by some operators make the situation for hotels "very difficult".