Some Airlines have reduced their flight schedules for Majorca by 40% in September because of the drop in tourists from the UK and Germany.
Both countries recently advised against all but essential travel to Spain, including the Balearic Islands and imposed mandatory quarantine on travellers arriving from Spain. Belgium, Denmark and Austria will also introduce quarantine measures on Monday.
Companies that are part of the Air Lines Association, or ALA say that on flights to Majorca from Germany and the UK, capacity levels have dropped below 35% in the last ten days.
"This development makes air operations unfeasible, so European Tourist Groups are diverting flights and tourists to eastern Mediterranean destinations, such as Greece and Turkey and also to the Canary Islands," they said.
Capacity is still at an acceptable level on flights between the Balearic Islands and the Peninsula, but Spanish companies are already looking at the possibility of cutting back if occupation decreases.
Hotel reservations for September were higher than July and August before Germany advised its citizens to avoid travelling to Spain, according to the FEHM and the Agrupación de Cadenas de Balears and the huge fall in numbers means hotels will start closing down from Monday, August 24.
Several Hotel Chains are offering bargains to attract domestic tourists and avoid imminent closure.
Thousands of tourists who'd planned to spend their holidays in Majorca in July and August are going to Greece, Turkey and the Canary Islands instead, because their epidemiological levels are much lower than the Balearic Islands.
“The entire Tourism Industry hopes that there will be a vaccine soon, because at the moment there is a lot of uncertainty and fear of travelling and European countries are applying stricter measures to prevent Covid-19 infections," said a Hotel Chain Spokesperson.
PIMEM
PIMEM Chairman, Juan Manuel Ordinas says the Government should have done more to promote the Balearic Islands as a safe destination.
"The source markets have lost confidence in our destination because of Institutional laziness and the inability to send messages about the measures adopted to guarantee the safety of our tourists,” he said. “The Government has not been proactive in combating the doubts and misinformation that the issuing markets have received regarding the data and measures that have been applied in the Balearic Islands, whereas the Canary Islands have done their homework well.