Tourism forecasts are not very good for the summer season in Ibiza. In fact, the first objective data available anticipate a strong booking drop in the main foreign market: the British market, which along with the Spanish market is the base of tourism in Ibiza.
According to the data by the Hotel Federation in Ibiza and Formentera, the number of reservations made by UK tourists in Ibiza for the summer season dropped in the month of March by 8 per cent, compared to those of last summer around the same date. The number coincides with the forecast by the Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourism Accommodation, which expected a drop of 9% in Ibiza and Menorca. The tourism number in Spain as a whole reflect an average rise of 3% compared to last year.
The data forecasts a booking drop of 5% for Mallorca, which shows that Ibiza is less attractive than Mallorca. What is happening is that the low and middle seasons are selling well, but the high season is being a little harder.
As for the possible causes for this drop, the Hotel Federation doesn’t hesitate to point out the Brexit, which has slowed down the bookings, even though they recognized that “not the whole eight percent is due to Brexit”.
The Spanish Confederation of Hotels highlighted, through its president, Juan Molares, that even though the fear of the Brexit is not affecting the whole of Spain, if there is Brexit without any agreement Spain could suffer a drop of a 15% in the arrival of British tourism to Spain.
If the perspectives for the island of Ibiza were confirmed, it would be the biggest booking drop of British tourism in many years, and surely it would be a sudden halt for the uninterrupted increase of arrivals that the local airport has been experiencing. Already in 2019, a small tourism decrease was perceived in July and August, even though it was compensated during the other months of the year.
