Spanish airlines, including Air Europa and the Iberia group, as well as the tourism groups Globalia, Iberostar and Barceló pointed out yesterday on the first day of the Fitur fair the starring role that the Balearic Islands will play in the coming summer season, which means that the number of domestic tourists is expected to exceed three million, compared to the 2.3 million that were recorded in 2021. Last year's trend, which exceeded all the forecasts of hoteliers, the Government and AENA, "will be consolidated throughout this season because we appreciate that there is a latent demand to come to the Islands, as happened last summer," said the representatives of Spanish tourism groups.
The CEO of World2Meet (W2M), Gabriel Subías, pointed out at Fitur: "Mallorca is still going to have a summer below 2019, but the Spanish market is recovering quickly and this is very positive. The strategy we have adopted is to put on sale dynamic tourist packages in which the client chooses and searches for his vacation offer according to his preferences. We are moderately optimistic because everything will depend on how the pandemic evolves in the coming months".
Positive expectations
Globalia pointed out that although it is still early days "the forecasts are positive and we can only hope that normality will consolidate". The rest of the Spanish tourist groups are already verifying in Fitur that the expectations are positive, so they are going to enter in a dynamic of incentives for the Spanish tourism from March to stimulate the trips from April to October. The Minister of Tourism and Employment, Iago Negueruela, said at the Balearic Islands stand: "We see that for the coming season there is good news and one of them is that the Spanish market will continue to grow, which will have an impact on all economic sectors and tourist spending".
The president of the Government, Francina Armengol, announced at the institutional press conference held at Fitur, that national tourism "is our priority objective this year, as we envision that the 2022 tourist season will be the full recovery of Spanish tourism". Armengol highlighted the evolution of economic and tourism indicators in 2021 and emphasised the levels of job creation and the lengthening of the season, despite its early beginnings and uncertainties.
The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Reyes Maroto, valued positively the strategy of the Balearic Islands "because it has become a reference and beacon for other territories for their tourism strategies". The forecasts for the next season, according to her, are positive and she valued the effort made by the autonomous regions, in particular the Balearic Islands, to have key tools to consolidate tourism "so it will reinforce its tourist leadership for another year".