Entrepreneurs and politicians left Fitur with a promising feeling for this summer. Of course there are worrying economic and social factors, but everything seems to indicate that the Pitiusas will have a season equal to or better than the last one. With the Ibiza and Balears stands full of visitors, perhaps more than ever, Juan Miguel Costa, island director of Tourism for Ibiza, looks to 2023 with optimism. The sector, with which he maintains close contact, has told him that “there are similar expectations to last year, a season regarded as within normality”. It will be, he says, a summer “very similar to 2019 or 2022”. Bookings are up, but for the moment they are not like those before the pandemic, when tourists, especially the British, booked their vacations well in advance: “For the moment, we will not return to the percentages of advanced bookings . Now there will be a kind of hybrid. There will even be a lot more Brits who will make up their minds a lot less in advance, even if they are inclined to book very early.” Last minute will continue to prevail this year, despite the fact that many travelers who waited until the last minute to book in 2022 got burnt because prices skyrocketed.
Good expectations for the coming season Rates are also now more expensive than a year ago. Hoteliers have already passed on the high inflation to next season’s prices, which in the months of July and August will grow by 7%, although some chains are increasing them by up to 15%.
Good expectations for the coming seasonAt Fitur there was also good news, such as the construction of the second phase of the Palacio de Congresos, a dream that the Consistory of Santa Eulària has been pursuing for twenty years.
Good expectations for the next seasonThe president of the Govern, Francina Armengol, took advantage of the tourism fair in Madrid to announce on the Ibiza stand, her support for the project, which will cost 21 million euros (plus VAT), of which the Govern will contribute 10 million (of which eight are European funds), the City Council 5 million and the Consell another 5 million euros.
Good expectations for the next season“This infrastructure is important for the island and will undoubtedly help us to deseasonalize and attract quality tourism, as it will allow us to host major events of all kinds,” said the Balearic president. The mayoress of Santa Eulària, Carmen Ferrer, valued the “effort” made by the architects in charge of its design, Jesús Ulargui and Eduardo Pesquera, “to update it”, something in which the tourism and MICE (conference and exhibition) sector has also participated to adapt it “to the today’s needs”.
Good expectations for the next seasonIt will have “an open-plan hall of 2,400 square meters” that can be transformed into an auditorium for 1,000 people. It can have up to seven different rooms.
In addition, the Minister of Tourism, Reyes Maroto, took advantage of her visit to the Balearic stand at Fitur to announce that “the national priority” of her department this year “will be the sun and beach destinations, the pioneering destinations of Spain”, such as the Pitiusas.
The purpose will be to “modernize them”, which, she indicated, “will help to attract tourists during other months in which we are not yet positioned or they do not know what our attractions are. It will have important economic resources,” she assured. Her goal is for the islands to be “open 365 days a year as a destination, to relieve the high season. That is the challenge.
The Balearic Minister of Tourism, Iago Negueruela, present during this announcement, assured that those funds will be for all the Balearic Islands: “The call is presented for this year and will come out in the first quarter of 2023”.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.