Javier Piñanes, the director of the Spanish tourism bureau in London, said yesterday that 5,000 of 33,000 lost Thomas Cook airline seats have been recovered in the past few days; the majority of these are for Majorca. He anticipates that the recovery will continue over the next few weeks, as other companies take advantage of what is available. By next summer he expects the situation to be more or less as it was.
Speaking about Brexit at the Palma conference for overseas tourism bureau directors, Piñanes observed this was much the same problem as it was last year. With Brexit, he observed, "it's up and down". "One moment demand falls, the next it grows." For him, the biggest issue is the value of the pound. Other issues, like flights, any talk of visas, the use of the European health card, have all been "covered". He hoped that there will be a deal, as this would be "good news that will calm the market".
Arturo Ortiz from the Berlin bureau said that there has been a fall in the German market but that, despite this, the level of German spending is much as it was in 2016. He was confident that Condor continuing to operate will minimise the effects of Thomas Cook. As for possible recession in Germany, he didn't believe that this would affect those who travel the most and noted that the Balearics is not a destination which is chosen solely on price.
The director in New York, José Manuel de Juan, reported that 69,000 Americans visited the Balearics from January to August. There has therefore been a slight increase; there were 68,000 last year.