Bookings to Spanish islands slump

[delderek]

30 April 2012
Bookings to Spanish islands slump as tourist office pulls funding

Cosmos managing director Hugh Morgan is warning bookings to Spain could plummet this year due to a lack of advertising.

He said tour operators had been forced to scale back campaigns this year because they had not received the usual financial support from the Spanish National Tourist Office.

Package holiday bookings for the Canaries are already 13% down year on year, Morgan said, but admitted this was partly due to competition from Ryanair, which has taken a slice of the IT market to the islands.

However, he said the tourist office decision not to fund any operator-led advertising this year was bound to have 'a profound' affect on bookings.

"Always in the past, Spain has had significant sums to invest in co-marketing campaigns, but this year there is nothing," said Morgan.

The Spanish government's proposal to raise airport taxes by 15% from July will damage business even further, he warned. Cosmos will absorb the increase for passengers who have already booked, but it will have to pass on the extra tax on to new customers, he said.

"The higher tax, combined with increases in UK air passenger duty, is not going to help Spain," he added.

However, bookings to the Balearic Island and mainland Spain are down only 5% this summer, which is less of a drop than the overall market, which is estimated to be around 8% down on 2011.

Morgan said Cosmos bookings overall were up 7% year-on-year. Despite operators' fears that Greece would struggle this year, due to its highly publicised political unrest and a lack of tourist board advertising, he said sales were higher than last year. Cosmos has expanded its programme and launched a dedicated Greece brochure.

Dubrovnik in Croatia is also selling "extremely well", he said, with sales seven times higher than last year.

For next winter, Cosmos will launch a holiday programme to Madeira on the back of in-house carrier Monarch Airlines' new schedule flights to Funchal.

From Travel Mole

[tozcal2011]

So that means Tenerife Forum will have to make up for less Tenerife promoting by word of mouth. Come on guys we all need you...

[Balcony]

There are a lot of factors influencing the Spanish decisions, not least of which is their financial state. I'm not so sure that a government should be financing a tour operator's operation. Why aren't they (tour operators) advertising for themselves?

I don't think the slump is just because of a lack of advertising. People know what's going on. People worry that maybe Spain goes 'a la Greece' with riots and the like. Spain just gets a bad press right now. People are hurting financially as we see costs at home rise, outrageous air fares, so they too will cut what they see as unwise spending, or go somewhere that offers good value.

[AL JAY]

The illegal lettings fiasco isn't helping the cause, 6 couples i know well have decided that for the first time since 1986 they will be going elsewhere in May and Oct because they usually stay in PS1 &PS2 and the apartments are not being advertised anymore!!! If thousands of other couples copy the trend "The Patch" and its surrounding restarantes/supermarkets/taxi's will feel the knock on effect...Sad but true!!! Plus more bars will close putting more people out of work and the economy of the Island will suffer in the long run! Crazy law at anytime but ten times worse in a recession!!! You couldn't make it up!

[tozcal2011]

This situation with apartment rentals is just too sad. It's not that the people don't want to rent out, you know... Why are you amused Balcony?

[BobMac]

The price of flights doesn't help the situation either.

Trying to get flights from London area for October half term holiday and cheapest is coming in at well over £400 return pp which means we are looking at over £1700 for 4 people compared to just over £1000 for 4 at Easter this year.

I know flights are cheaper outside school holidays but like a lot of people, we are tied to having to take our holidays in School holiday time because of our wives jobs which means that we probably will be looking elsewhere for October despite how much as we love Tenerife.

[kathml]

Its easy to tell how serious the tourist slump is just look at the price of ryanair flights up until late June Never had it so cheap from Edinburgh

[warbey]

I saw some figures from the Post Office last week

There are about three Countries cheaper than Spain now.

People arent stupid..

[TOTO 99]

Do people seriously need advertising to tempt them on their holidays? This is 2012...Everyone has the internet..even kids on street corners have the internet on their phones..

It's about choice.
To me, this just shows that the hotel set up isn't what people want. Numbers are down. Tour company bookings (hotel) are down. There is room for both types of holiday but the powers seem to think that the average punter can be forced into one, and one only. This is very early days and already it's starting to show.
People do not need advertising. They know what they want, why can't they have it?

[timmylish]

The only true figures will come out after the summer period and the number of arrivals at the airport are announced. My own view? Scaremoungering by a bunch of crooks who are only now realising that people don,t want to be "packaged" any more. Freedom of choice, internet and direct booking is what more and more, ordinary working people seem to be wanting. I may be wrong and I,ll admit that is required but I doubt that I shall be. I have heard of the imminent demise of this Island, as a holidaying resort, year after year for the last 12/15 years!