With plans to launch a £400,000 PR campaign in order to clean up its image and Spanish tourism officials due to meet with British embassy representatives, there is clearly some concern that the popular holiday destination will lose its main source of income.
LONDON – Searches to Magaluf have increased by 24 per cent over the past week, according to hotel comparison website trivago.co.uk. Last year, searches increased by 39 per cent over the same period.
Magaluf has been in the press recently for all the wrong reasons: Alcohol, drugs, bar crawls, public sex acts, violence and a tragic balcony fall. With plans to launch a £400,000 PR campaign in order to clean up its image and Spanish tourism officials due to meet with British embassy representatives, there is clearly some concern that the popular holiday destination will lose its main source of income.
However, data from trivago shows that travel interest has increased since heavy criticism of the Carnage bar crawl from 4th July onwards. When hotel searches during that week (4th July to 10th July) were compared to searches during the previous week (27th June to 3rd July), an increase of 24 per cent was found. Searches were for hotel stays between 15th July and 31st August.
When the same period during 2013 was compared, an increase of 39 per cent was found. This suggests that Magaluf is a seasonal destination and the beginning of July is a popular time for UK visitors to book their holidays.
Although the events in Magaluf did not lead to a decrease in hotel searches, it is interesting to note that the increase is significantly less than last year. This suggests some visitors were dissuaded by events in the media and perhaps the destination could benefit from cleaning up its image.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
