It has long been said that the British tourism market is especially sensitive to price; the German market less so. For both 2023 and 2024, concerns about the German market were expressed because of domestic economic circumstances and a rise in prices. But these concerns were not realised in terms of pure numbers of tourists. In 2023 there was a 7% increase, in 2024 a 9% increase.
The total number of German tourists in the Balearics topped five million for the first time in 2024. And for the Balearics, one could almost read Mallorca alone. 93% of German tourists came to Mallorca, this huge percentage being an historical fact. By contrast, the UK percentage on an overall total of 3.6 million was 64%, a reflection of a very different distribution of tourists, which is also an historical fact.
There is close scrutiny of both markets because of their size and importance. While both represent a strength, there has been an acknowledgement that both are also a weakness, purely because of the high dependence. Greater diversification of markets has therefore been a goal, and to an extent there is greater diversification.
It has come as a result of a decline in UK tourism that has been evident since 2024 and now because of a fall in German tourism. In both May and June, German tourism fell. The concerns are finally being realised. The tourism industry believes that July and August, when figures are available, will confirm this trend.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Spain's tourism institute, Turespaña, pointed to a slowdown in German bookings for the Balearics (Mallorca) that was more noticeable than for any other Spanish region. "German demand appears to have reached its limit in terms of price sensitivity after two years of accepting substantial increases in package deals and flights, hotel rooms, car rentals, and other products and services. Although demand, in terms of volume, will remain significant, it is more sensitive to price trends."
At the ITB tourism fair in Berlin this March, tour operators observed that there was increased interest in cheaper destinations as alternatives to the new "luxury Mallorca". Protests are said to have been having an influence, though the president of the Aviba travel agencies association in the Balearics, Pedro Fiol, is more of the view that a downturn is due to price. "There are signs of exhaustion in source markets. Supply is not adapting to the main source markets." There is greater price sensitivity, and Fiol also referred to the Spanish market.
If Germany and the UK are currently stuttering, where is demand coming from to explain, for instance, a three per cent increase in June's foreign tourism? The big winners in June in percentage terms were France, Italy (both over 30%) and the Nordic countries (plus 40%). Growth, but then these markets are far smaller in real terms. The largest, France, supplied roughly one-third (196,000) of the German and UK totals in June.