Much has been said and written about the growth in U.S. tourism to Mallorca thanks to the new summer direct flights from New York but this year it appears that the Americans have stayed away. Infact, one major department store in Mallorca said that the British have helped fill the gap left by the Americans with the British back to being one of their top spenders . Spending by tourists is said to have increased on the island this year.
Last year the U.S. market was their second best foreign market, this year they have been replaced by the British with the Germans on pole position. The situation in the Middle East has been blamed for fewer American tourists on the island this summer. Some five star hotels on the island have said that U.S. tourism was key for them.
There is growing evidence that the British have helped save the summer season across the Balearics. While British tourism has fallen to Mallorca the drop was not as big as everyone had expected, a fall in visitor numbers of about two percent in July and big increases in visitor numbers to Ibiza and Minorca.
German tourism to Mallorca is believed to have fallen by about eight percent, a major drop which is causing concern locally.
With reports of a drop in both U.S. and German tourism it is the British who appear to have stayed loyal to the island.