Why more British tourists are ditching Mallorca

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Fewer British holidaymakers are travelling to Mallorca this summer, tourist operators say, amid rising prices on the Spanish island – and are instead choosing to visit out of season. However, increasing protests against overtourism have not dissuaded UK holidaymakers from visiting the popular tourist destination, tourist chiefs added. (Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty)

Mallorca's transformation

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, has undergone a transformation in the past decade, with the number of four- and five-star hotels rising from 30 per cent to 70 per cent of all hotel accommodation. Notorious resorts like Magaluf – often dubbed Shagaluf thanks to its reputation as a haven for promiscuous and partygoing tourists – have become largely family-friendly destinations. (Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty)

Not just 'sun and sand' holidays

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

More Britons are choosing to travel to Mallorca out of season, the hoteliers’ association said, possibly because prices were cheaper, and Britons were going on holiday for shorter periods of time. They were also interested in breaks which were not just “sun and sand” holidays, the association added. “We are seeing more passengers in the airport [of Mallorca], but the market of British tourists has decreased a bit. Only one tour operator, which I will not name, is doing well,” Pedro Fiol, of the Business Association of Travel Agencies of the Balearic Islands (Aviba), told The i Paper. (Photo: Paul Biris/Getty /Moment RF)

A more and more expensive destination?

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Fiol continues: “We think that the season is going well. But the numbers are a little lower than expected, according to tour operators. Maybe as it is more and more expensive to come to the Balearic Islands, less people are coming in the high season and more are coming in the low season.” (Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty)

Overtourism protests 'worrying'

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Mr Fiol said protests against overtourism in the Balearic Islands were “worrying”, but the decrease in British and German tourists owing to high prices was more concerning. “For the first time in our history, we have doubts about the British market. They are coming for less time and spending less.” Britons spent a total of €572.87m (£496m/US$662m) in May this year in the Balearic Islands, compared with €4.3bn (£3.7bn/$4.9bn) in the same month in 2024, according to data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE). However, in the same month of May, average daily personal spending by Britons was €206.79 (£179/$239), compared to €181.69 (£157/$210) during the same period in the year before. (Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty)

Changing holiday habits for British tourists

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Maria Duran, a spokeswoman for the Mallorcan Hoteliers Federation (FEHM), said Britons had changed their holiday habits. “They travel more and stay for less time. This is why [data shows] that there are more travellers through the Mallorca airport, but this does not translate to people staying at hotels. You have to count people staying at illegal tourist flats, legal tourist flats, and their own homes,” she said. (Photo: John Keeble/Getty)

Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Mallorca's transformation, Not just 'sun and sand' holidays, A more and more expensive destination?, Overtourism protests 'worrying', Changing holiday habits for British tourists, Britons biggest group of tourists apart from Germans

Hotel chains had invested €3.5bn (£3bn/$4bn) in four- or five-star hotels in the past decade, said Ms Duran. At the same time, the workforce of 235,000 had enjoyed wage increases of 34 per cent during the past 10 years, 10 points above inflation. In 2024, 3.57 million Britons travelled to the Balearic Islands, which represented a fall of 3.2 per cent compared with the year before, according to INE. Britons are the second biggest group of tourists by nationality after Germans. No official figures are available for British visitors to Mallorca this summer yet, and the decrease in UK visitors is based on tour operators’ accounts. (Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP via Getty)

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