Despite the pessimistic forecasts that tourist figures over the Easter period would not reach last year's levels, the statistics show that the number of visitors was slightly higher than in 2009. The 49 hotels that were open over Easter were 65%-70% full which is an increase of between 5% and 8% on last year.
According to the President of ASHOME, Joan Melis, initial indications are that the increase in holidaymakers was partly due to the "senior tourists" who are still completely filling the four hotels dealing with this sector of the tourist market this year compared to an occupancy rate of around 60% in 2009. There was also more demand for rural and agritourism hotels as well as increased interest in establishments with health facilities. It was notable that the majority of tourists were Spanish with very few visitors from abroad.
However, Melis warned that once the Easter visitors had left the occupancy forecasts were hardly encouraging as this year Easter fell a month before the start of the summer season. With the prospect of only having 15%-20% of beds filled, some hotels that had opened for the Easter period have now closed again.Although the hotels enjoyed a better-than-expected Easter, bars and restaurants had mixed results. At the western end of the island business was described as "moderate" with Menorcans making up the majority of the customers, whilst in the Ciutadella area bars and restaurants reported an "impressive" amount of activity throughout the week.
Booster Plan for Tourism
The committee assigned to monitor the plan to boost tourism in Menorca (PDPTM), incorporating representatives from the State Government, Balearic Government, Island Council and ASHOME (the Menorcan Hoteliers' Association), met last week and pronounced themselves "satisfied" with the progress of projects designed to offer tourists something other than the "sun and beach" on their holidays. The PDPTM has 3.9 million euros to spend over four years and it falls to the Fundació Destí to carry out the actions designed to improve the offer.
To date, 15 of the 30 actions proposed for the first two years of the plan have been completed, such as the gastronomic and kayak routes. Others are in the pipeline: touch screens are shortly to be installed in Maó and Ciutadella streets providing tourist information 24 hours a day; surveys will again be carried out on airport passengers from mid May; some defence towers and archaeological monuments are to be illuminated; an information centre on prehistoric monuments will be created once a suitable location has been found; and work is being done on providing 18 new cycling routes.
Future projects which were approved by the commission include a study on the viability of holding an international archaeological congress on the island and the commemoration next year of the 300th anniversary of the British commencing the building of the hospital on the Illa del Rei.