The pandemic is changing absolutely everything, even the way of doing tourism and booking accommodation. If before Covid it was normal for British tourists to book a long time in advance, nowadays “the bulk of bookings are made three weeks in advance,” explains José María Ramón, CEO of Neobookings, an accommodation booking engine that accounts for 60% of Ibiza’s beds. The United Kingdom, which after including the island in the green traffic light is once again our main source of tourists, now books mostly one week in advance. Italian and French tourists, however, still have their sights set on the long term, on the first two weeks of August. The reason? “Nobody,” stresses Ramón, “wants to take any more risks. Last-minute bookings will be the keynote of the rest of the season ahead”. Very last minute, Ramón adds, “a week ahead”. The Spaniards, too, are also taking part in this last minute trend.
On the 23rd of June, the day before it was made official that the UK included Ibiza in its green traffic light, “there was already a certain euphoria about what was expected to happen and there was a 223% increase in bookings from the British market”. And on 24 June, when the British Minister for Transport, Grant Shapps, announced the inclusion of the Balearic Islands at that level , “in a matter of hours, nothing more and nothing less than the record for bookings was broken, not only for the season, but since we have had a record at Neobookings “. It was an increase of 459% over the previous day: “The equivalent would be to fill 12 hotels with 40 rooms for a whole month. And only with English, Welsh and Scottish people.
The increase in bookings on 25 June, in the rectangle. Neobookings
From nothing to half
On 23 June, British bookings went from nothing on the previous day to 15.3% of the total. On 24 June, they reached 50%, before gradually stabilising and reaching 23% a week later: “ Since 26 June, the rate of bookings has levelled off, but we are still on an upward curve that will continue until mid-August”, says the CEO of Neobookings.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.