GERMANS fear AMERICANS are out to ‘steal our sunbeds’ as Mallorca becomes a popular destination for US tourists
- Germans accounted for almost 40 percent of tourists visiting Mallorca in 2021
- But America’s United Airlines started offering flights from NY to Palma last year
- It proved to be a hit with US vacationers looking to broaden their horizons
The Germans love to lay out a towel on Mallorca.
Of the around 5.7 million tourists from all over the world who made the journey to the sunny Balearic island in 2021, a whopping 2.12 million came from Germany.
As a result, Germans accounted for almost 40 percent of all tourism on the island in 2021 – more than twice as many as Spaniards and more than three times as many as Britons.
But now Germany’s dominance of Mallorca’s tourism market is reportedly being threatened by a new party – the Americans – and Germans aren’t too happy about it.
German holidaymakers enjoy the sun and beach in Mallorca, June 2021
German tabloid Bild published an article this morning entitled ‘Are the Americans stealing our sun loungers in Mallorca?’
She complained that America’s United Airlines offered three weekly flights from Newark Airport to Palma last summer to assess US demand for a destination far away for Americans.
Almost every flight with 214 seats was fully booked.
“Not Miami (Florida), not Cancun (Mexico), not Honolulu (Hawaii). Every self-respecting American will be flying to Mallorca this summer!’ picture quipped.
“After the British, now the Americans are stealing our deckchairs?”
After the success of 2022, United Airlines plans to increase the number of flights and extend the season by two months.
The airline’s website now offers flights to Palma from New York, Chicago, Denver, Houston and San Francisco.
Germany has dominated the tourism market on Mallorca for years – almost 40 percent of all tourists registered on the island in 2021 were German
Maybe the Germans feel a little betrayed.
Even after years of committing to making Mallorca a de facto tourist colony, their loyalty hasn’t stopped the island’s tourism bosses from broadening their own horizons.
Last year, Mallorca Magazin, a German-language magazine for the island, reported that tourism foundations and hotel guides had developed targeted marketing campaigns to lure Americans tempted to explore new European shores.
“Demand in the US has exceeded all our expectations,” a spokesman for tourism promoter Palma 365 told the publication.
He added that the organization plans to increase promotional efforts in the future “to attract and consolidate this new foreign market with great growth potential.”
View of the famous Soller Port Marina and Dockland illuminated by the evening light in Palma de Mallorca in Spain
Meanwhile, Javier Vich, the head of the Asphama hotel association, said his properties were full of reservations from American vacationers well into September 2022.
Now, in 2023, Germany’s beloved Balearic Island has graced the top of renowned travel journalist Larry Olmsted’s Forbes list of Top 5 Hot Travel Destinations, sure to get sun-seeking Americans excited.
“Mallorca has long been hugely popular with Europeans… but for some reason the Mediterranean island paradise stubbornly stayed off American radar until recently,” wrote Olmsted.
‘Mallorca is hot, hot, hot and rightly so.’
With such a ringing endorsement, many German holidaymakers could arrive in Mallorca later this year and find their name carved from their favorite sun lounger.