Vacation in Mallorca soon? Tui plans to start the season at Easter

Hope for German vacationers: vacation on Mallorca again soon? Tui plans to start the season at Easter

Mallorca was hit hard by the corona pandemic. Most recently, the island was classified "only as a normal risk area". So reason enough to slowly start up tourism again?

Tui wants to bring vacationers back to Mallorca from the Easter holidays. "The hotel industry has prepared intensively to offer safe and responsible holidays," said Tui Germany boss Marek Andryszak on the Monday before the start of the ITB travel fair. Precise hygiene concepts give confidence that there is close coordination with the authorities. Therefore one wants to enable the customers "Easter vacation on Mallorca", so the manager.

Most recently, Spain was classified as a risk area by the Robert Koch Institute – but without exceptionally high levels of new corona infections. Tui pointed out that the values ​​on Mallorca were "far below those of most of the German federal states". On the island, the 7-day incidence has fallen below the threshold of 50, sometimes below 30, said Andryszak. He therefore hopes for further official signals such as an end to the travel warning, possibly later this week.

Careful start in Mallorca

Some organizers are already planning around Easter (April 4th and 5th). Tui canceled trips to the other Balearic islands of Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera as well as most of mainland Spain until mid-April. Now there should be a cautious opening, especially in Mallorca, for example with the start of a Robinson Club and the first flights of the group airline Tuifly from the second half of March.

The offer is to be expanded further in the summer. In terms of current bookings, Spain remains the largest market, it said – ahead of Greece, Turkey and Italy. Crete is currently in the greatest demand, but that could change, said Andryszak: "I hope that Mallorca will catch up with the Greek islands, maybe pass it." In the Aegean Sea, Tui trips were initially suspended until April 14 at the beginning of this week – for Greece and Turkey, with the exception of Antalya. Customers will have to wait until at least the end of April for destinations such as Tunisia, Morocco or Egypt.

Holidays in Germany are still very popular

Andryszak assumes that many holidaymakers will also spend their holidays in Germany again: "The trend towards holidays in their own country will continue." The Baltic Sea coast and East Frisian islands as well as the Black Forest, Bavarian Forest and Allgäu are in demand. Should there soon be "reliable information" on further easing in Schleswig-Holstein, Tui will also expand its offer there.

It is not yet entirely clear in which direction prices will develop this year. At least early bookers could get away cheaper because of the low capacity utilization, it said. Viewed over the entire year, however, the average prices are likely to rise – also because many holidaymakers are willing to book higher quality items.

Pressure on politics

Talks about reopening Mallorca were already underway behind the scenes. Interest representatives outside of tourism are also putting pressure on politics. For example, the real estate entrepreneur Lutz Minkner wrote to the German ambassador in Madrid. Because of the stable situation in the Balearic Islands, he demanded that the quarantine regulations in Germany for those returning from the islands should be "lifted immediately".

According to Andryszak, the still low vaccination quota in Germany means that tests are "the most important pillar for summer 2021" in tourism – "unless vaccination speeds up significantly". Tui CEO Fritz Joussen had also spoken out in favor of more corona rapid tests. The state and private donors are supporting the group with billions, and demand must now pick up noticeably in 2021. At the same time, Tui is pursuing a tough austerity course.

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nhu / dpa