May and June reveal promising figures for summer occupancy

This morning in press conference, Alejandra Ferrer, councilor of Tourism, Commerce and Transport of the Formentera Island Council, released occupancy data for the first half of June. The figures are superior to those of the same period last year, which, together with improved occupancy rates for the month of May, signal a positive prognostic for the summer season.

The statistics are fruit of a study carried out by the Office of Tourism, and reflect recent promotional work by the Council as well as work and participation from the private sector. All such efforts have effected positive changes to occupancy and market diversification.

Superior to last year's numbers for the same period, occupancy this year reached 76.50%, 8.5 percentage points higher than the 68% obtained last summer. For the first two weeks of June, the figures are the second highest in the last five years, surpassed only by the extraordinary 82.67% achieved in 2011.

Increased promotional efforts made by the Office of Tourism in recent years favoured these June occupancy levels. In the first two weeks of the month a trend toward diversification was detected in the French and English markets, with numbers for both groups increasing. The forecast for this year's summer season is a relative balance between the Italian and Spanish markets, as was demonstrated by the statistics for the month of June, which logged the majority of visiting tourists as Spanish (43%), followed by Italians (38%), Germans (14%) and English tourists. In fact, the figures recorded in May had already indicated this trend, with 31% of tourists coming from Spain, 27% from Italy and 18% from Germany.

Such positive results come thanks to the work done this winter by tour operators and other tourist industry agents. This included the signing of a number of agreements regarding tourist promotion as well as hotel recruitment with English and German tour operators. These actions succeeded in effecting an equilibrium between the different markets in Formentera at the same time that they have helped to achieve a summer season that will be longer and more economically lucrative.

Trends have also been noted in family tourism, as well as the predominance in June of generally shorter stays, especially in the case of Spanish tourists traveling the short distance from the mainland.

Another interesting change registered by information gathering on tourism in Formentera has been the arrival of nationalities more exotic than those that have historically frequented the island. Scandinavian, American, Korean, Brazilian and Eastern European tourists are some of these recently increasing nationalities. Efforts have also been made to increase the amount of familiarizing trips carried out with tour operators. Poland and Russia are two such countries that have been targeted, in a continuation of the work being done to achieve market diversification.

Furthermore, a greater budget has this year been granted in order to finance an updating of informational pamphlets on Formentera's beaches, gastronomy and wedding celebration opportunities. An online presence is of course of acute importance, and the website www.formentera.es, updated daily, along with its presence on Facebook and Twitter, serves to promote the island's calendar of cultural events and other aspects of the service, like one-on-one, real-time service to the public.