Hotel occupancy rates give an important sign on the overall performance of the tourist season on the island of Mallorca. According to figures released earlier this months, the organization of hotels hinted to a drop of occupancy rates by some 11 percentage points in June compared to June 2008...

 

Reservation figures had been below 60% in May in many areas of the island, with the exception of the Platja de Palma (Arenal) and the north, where they reached almost 80% and 70% respectively. Previsions for July see the figures drop even compared to those of June, which may be an alarming signal for the sector. Reservation number in July could well drop more than 20% compared to last year with an overall drop in all of 2009 between 18-20% all over the island. 

 

Trying to back test those figures, you can look up available hotels on the popular HRS.de site. Here are some examples, seen today:

 

1 week, double room, July 20th to July 26th, 2009, minimum 3 stars accomodation:

 

Hotel Felip ****, Porto Cristo, half board, 45,50€ per night per room

Hotel Brismar ***, Port d'Andratx, breakfast, 58,00€ per night per room

Hotel Riutort ***, El Arenal, Palma, breakfast, 59,00€ per night per room

Hotel Diamant Junior ***, Cala Ratjada, breakfast, 70,00€ per night per room

With numerous other hotels available between 70€ and 80€ per night.

 

Those offers would not have been available last year in the beginning of July. There are a variety of reasons for this drop:

After two years of record tourism in 2007 and 2008, there will be a significant drop this year, which could be helpful to bring pricing down in order to become competitive in the years to come.