The State Tourism Department secretary Joan Mesquida and the director of Turespaña, Antonio Bernabé had attended the crisis committee meeting yesterday. The meeting was held by Miguel Sebastian, Minister for Tourism and Commerce, in which, a plan to attract international more tourists during the autumn-winter season was discussed.
After the meeting, ministry resources said that in spite of bad economic conditions all over the world, the tourism industry of Spain is doing well. They said that, in general, the number of people visiting Spain had remained stable during the last 7 months showing a slight decline of 0.2%. The ministry assumed that the Spanish tourism industry had been very resilient despite the unfavourable conditions. A research conducted by the National Institute of Statistics indicated that in July, overnight stays by foreign visitors all over the country had increased by 2.9 percent. The research also showed that The Balearics had the highest hotel occupation for July with it being 86.95 % of the total capacity.
In July, 9’176’866 visitors stayed overnights in the Balearics’ hotels – 1,388,557 foreign visitors and 234,233 Spaniards. However, the hotel prices have increased the most in Aragon and Balearics, when compared to last year.
The government Spain is planning to launch its Tourism Overhaul Plan for the year 2020. This will include renovating old and established tourist destinations that are wearing down. This will also be advantageous to the different sectors of industry, other than tourism.
During our survey of business owners in Majorca we found that it was not really the number of tourists that were down it was the spend per head. Mainly due to the UK credit crunch and also to the exchange rate.
It is still to be said that good businesses although experiencing this down turn have done so to a lesser extent.
What has also happened is that there is forecast an increase in the amount of businesses for sale in Mallorca before the end of the season, making this a buyers market and one where you need Target Mallorca to ensure you get the best deal for your money.
Tags: Balearics, Business, Business owners, Businesses for sale, Majorca, Mallorca, state tourism department, tourists