The London World Travel Market (WTM) tourism fair kicked off with promising signs for Ibiza for the upcoming season. The president of the Consell, Vicent Marí, highlighted yesterday, on the first day of the fair, that the first meetings with tour operators and the British tourism sector are looking good, as the first booking figures for the summer of 2022 are “similar to those of 2019”, before the start of the health crisis. “Everyone is optimistic,” he stressed.
Despite the fact that “good vibes” are being felt at the WTM, the president advises “caution” because “a lot can happen”. “Everything is very volatile and it is difficult to give forecasts because everything will depend on the restrictions imposed by other countries,” warned Marí, who pointed out that the British market, the island’s main market, is the one which has suffered the biggest losses in the last two summers of the pandemic. This season only 25% of this market has been achieved, which has hampered the activity of the island’s entire hotel industry. Thirty per cent of tourist establishments did not open their doors last summer.
Aside from the fact that the level of bookings is “encouraging”, the president of the Consell also pointed out that tour operators are stressing that there are more and more “last minute” bookings and that, due to the pandemic’s changing situation, this type of marketing will be even “more important” next summer.
The president of the Consell insisted on the importance of the UK and Ibiza being connected all year round with at least one direct daily flight, which “demonstrates the interest” of the British market in visiting the island, “even in the low season”.
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