The Balearic Islands have closed their high season leading the arrival of foreign visitors, hotel occupancy – mainly in Formentera – and tourist spending. While residents accuse the overcrowding that is descending on streets and beaches, and that has led them to launch unprecedented demonstrations to protest against the consequences of this model, the Administration celebrates the data collected – which is slightly below those of 2023- and continues to bet on the deseasonalization and diversification of the sector.
Specifically, the Balearic Islands welcomed 2,637,41 tourists in June, 6.1% more than in 2023. 67.8% of visitors traveled to Mallorca, 22.3% to the Pitiüses and 9.8% to Menorca. , according to data published by the Balearic Department of Tourism. In the month of July, 3,035,356 tourists arrived at the archipelago, 1% more than in 2023. By islands, Mallorca received 66.9% of the tourists, the Pitiüses 21.9% and Menorca 11.2%, according to the same sources.
According to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the archipelago was the first autonomous community in arrivals of foreign tourists in July, with a share of 23.4%. Catalonia follows, with 22.1%, and the Valencian Community, much lower, with 13.6%. This September, the last month for which data is available, almost two and a half million tourists arrived to the Islands, 2.4% more than in September 2023. Mallorca received 68.4%, the Pitiüses 21.9 % and Menorca 9.6%. The Balearic Islands were the first community in arrivals of foreign tourists in September, with a share of 22.4%, followed by Catalonia, with a share of 21.2%, and Andalusia (share of 15%), according to the same sources.
Formentera leads in July and August in hotel occupancy
These levels of tourist arrivals to the Balearic territory have had an impact on the hotel plants of the Islands, which due to the high demand of the destination have had a good year. Or at least, those are the feelings that, based on surveys, are made by the Hotel Federation of Ibiza and Formentera (FEHIF). “The results for us have been good, more or less like those of 2023,” says Manuel Sendino, manager of the Hotel Federation of Ibiza and Formentera. Although the occupancy percentage is yet to be definitively determined, “it will be very similar to last year and it has operated normally and well,” he explains in conversation with elDiario.es.
A different perception, however, is that of the Ibizan director of tourism, Juan Miguel Costa. “We did not count on it (in reference to this year’s data). Due to the high demand, we had high prices, and that may also be that at some point it created reluctance in tourists to come to the island for more days or even, in some cases, to come,” he recently stated in statements to this medium. The FEHIF plays down the matter: “It may be that some establishment has had to lower prices to have a good level of occupancy, but I don’t know, specifically, what it may be.” Costa assured that his department’s strategy is to continue with the process of deseasonalization and diversification in different sectors to achieve better results.
The Government is committed to seasonal adjustment
The Balearic Department of Tourism defines itself along the same lines in statements to this newspaper. “We are facing a good response from the sector to the Government’s strategy of betting on tourism associated with culture and sports, and with the objective of deseasonalization.” This is demonstrated, he points out, by the fact that the increase of nearly 5% in the number of visitors to the islands during the last year “is concentrated mainly in the first and last months of the season, which represents a very important advance towards the deseasonalization of our tourist season.”
Thus, today in the Islands the busiest month has been August. Most hotel establishments in the main tourist destinations have exceeded 90% that month. In June, Mallorca had 82.8% hotel bed occupancy, 4 points less than in 2023. In Menorca it was 6 points lower at 75.8%, according to Tourism.
Specifically, in the month of June in Ibiza the average occupancy of the hotel floor was 83% (0.7 points less than in 2023 with 83.1%). Formentera, for its part, stood at 73% compared to 74% last season. According to data published by the Balearic Department of Tourism, the degree of occupancy by places in the Pitiüses was 76.5%, 2.2 points less than the previous year, according to data provided by the FEHIF. Furthermore, according to INE data, the Balearic Islands were the first autonomous community in arrivals of foreign tourists in June, with a share of 23.6%. Catalonia follows, with 21.5%, and Andalusia with 14.7%.
In July, the Balearic Islands, with 87.6%, was the first autonomous community in terms of occupancy rate by beds in hotel establishments, followed by the Canary Islands, with 76.1%. By islands, Mallorca presented 89.6% in occupancy rate by places (2.0 points of variation compared to 2023), Pitiüses 82.7% (-3.8) and Menorca 80.9% (- 4 ,4). Despite this, the data was slightly lower than in 2023. Hotel occupancy fell from 89.8% in that year to 87.6 in July 2024.
According to the FEHIF survey for the month of July, the “accumulated data for the entire season”, from May to the end of July, recorded an average hotel occupancy in the Pitiüses of 80.7%, very close to 81. 2% from last season. By island, the average occupancy in Ibiza has been 81.4% in these first seven months of the year compared to 82.2% in the same period last year. In Formentera, the percentage is 70.8%, up from 69.5% in 2023.
Also in the month of August the data were lower, although not very significant. Specifically in Eivissa 1.1% compared to the same month of 2023. The southern Pitiusa closed the month with 1.6% less than in the same month of 2023, despite the fact that in the first fortnight it registered 90% stays made. The smallest of the Pitiusas had better fortune in the accumulated data of the Pitiusa Hotel Federation, Formentera ended the period with positive data, with 75.19% this season compared to 74.55% last year.
In general, in the Balearic Islands, August closed with 89.9% (0.7 points of variation compared to 2023). It was the first autonomous community in terms of occupancy rate by beds in hotel establishments, followed by the Canary Islands, with 81.2%. By island, the Pitiüses presented a 90.6% occupancy rate by beds (+2.2 points of variation compared to 2023), Mallorca 90.3% (0.7) and Menorca 85.4% (- 1.8).
Already in the month of September, the last one for which data is available, the Balearic Islands, with 80.9% (1.8 points of variation compared to 2023), were once again the first community in terms of occupancy rate by places with 74.2 %. By island, Mallorca presented an 82% occupancy rate by places (2.4 points of variation compared to 2023), the Pitiusas 80.2% (2) and Menorca 72.5% (-2.9). The Ministry insists that it is aware that the current model “needs a transformation.”
Balears, the first community in tourist spending
Another of the reflections of the Balearic Tourism Department is regarding the increase in spending by tourists who travel to the archipelago. “This strategy also means that we are growing more in value than in volume: today the increase in tourist spending on our islands is double the increase in visitors,” they say.
And this is corroborated by the data. The Balearic Islands were the first autonomous community in spending by foreign tourists in June, with a share of 22.3%, ahead of Catalonia (20.5%) and Andalusia (14.1%). Tourists, national and foreign, arriving in June 2024 spent 3,042.1 million euros (12% more than in 2023). 69.9% corresponds to that made by tourists who have had Mallorca as their main destination, 21.1% the Pitiusas and 9% Menorca.
In July, the data was repeated, leading the ranking of Communities with a spending share of foreign tourists of 24.4%. In relation to August, in 2024 they spent 4,060.4 million euros (7.7% more than in August 2023). 66.2% corresponds to that made by tourists who have had Mallorca as their main destination, 22.4% the Pitiusas and 11.4% Menorca. The Islands were also the first in September, with a share of 21.4%, ahead of Catalonia (19.6%) and Andalusia (15%).
National and foreign tourists arriving in September 2024 spent 2,967.2 million euros (6.6% more than in September 2023). 68.3% corresponds to that made by tourists who have had Mallorca as their main destination, 22.6% the Pitiüses and 9.1% Menorca.
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