Ibiza stand at Fitur 2023.

The president of the Consell, Vicent Marí, is clear: the national market is essential to consolidate the lengthening of the tourist season and the deseasonalisation of the island. He made this point yesterday during the presentation of Fitur 2024 at the Consell d'Eivissa. In this regard, Vicent Marí, as head of the Department of Tourism Promotion, explained that the domestic market is currently the main source of tourists arriving on the island. "According to data from the airport operator AENA, more than 1.8 million passengers arrived in 2023 from Spanish airports," said the president of the Consell. This is, according to Marí, 10.55% more than in 2022. Furthermore, according to data from the Balearic Islands Institute of Statistics (Ibestat), in the first three quarters of 2023 domestic tourists spent 518 million euros in Ibiza and 101 million euros in Formentera, which means an increase of 12.92% in Ibiza over 2022.

If the record is made globally in the Pitiusas, this figure until November reaches 675 million while in the whole year 2022 the national tourists spent a total of 610 million. Moreover, the expenditure per person and day of the visitors of the Pitiusas was 198,51 euros, 8,6 % more than in 2022. Not surprisingly, yesterday Vicent Marí pointed out the importance of this market for the island and indicated that Fitur is the main event for the national tourism market and one of the most important in the world. "Last year, more than 280,000 people visited this event, which takes place at the Ifema exhibition centre in Madrid," he said. He also pointed out which Spanish airports are the main senders to Ibiza. He indicated that the most important is Barcelona with the arrival of 615,839 passengers, followed by Madrid with 489,013 passengers, Palma with 280,200 passengers and Valencia with 177,989 passengers.

After Spain, the United Kingdom

Noticias relacionadas

Along these lines, he broke down the rest of the international countries, indicating that the next most important market is the United Kingdom with 925,414 passengers, followed by Italy with 455,526 passengers, Germany with 319,886 passengers and the Netherlands with 305,118. "We can see that the domestic market is the most important. For all these reasons, we must continue to promote at Fitur a part of Ibiza that we must make better known, such as gastronomy, heritage, nature and sport, which is allowing tourist seasons to become longer and longer," he explained, stressing that this lengthening benefits companies and workers, as professionals can enjoy greater stability.

For this tourism promotion, the Consell de Ibiza will have a 300 square metre stand with a budget of around 200,000 euros. The stand, which will have 18 exhibitors, will include the island's five town councils and 13 private tourism companies. He pointed out that these square metres will be divided into a welcome area, a presentation area and a meeting area. In this regard, he said that the Consell d'Eivissa's commitment to the Fitur fair will go in two directions: the promotion of elements that help to consolidate the growth of the season, such as sporting events, and also to inform operators and entrepreneurs of the Consell d'Eivissa's commitment to the training and specialisation of the island's human capital.

Promoting training

"We have given a strong boost to the Hotel and Catering School, as well as to future infrastructures such as the Student Residence, the Official Language School and the Bit Centre, which will soon be a reality in the Sa Coma Island Services Park," he underlined with satisfaction. He added that on the 24th and 25th of January the Ibiza stand will be the venue for various presentations by private companies and town councils, which will be accompanied by a display of local gastronomic products by chef Marga Orell. The Consell d'Eivissa, for its part, will be promoting the sports on offer at an event to be held on Thursday at 6 pm at the Comet Madrid venue.

However, he indicated that the main event to promote Ibiza as a tourist destination will take place on Thursday the 25th of January in the 'Comet' hall in Madrid. This event will be presented by the television personality Lourdes García Campos and will be attended by prominent sportsmen and women such as the athlete Carlos Mayo, the sailor Guillermo Altadill, who has completed 7 of the 10 round-the-world races in which he has participated, the cyclist Alberto Contador, winner of 7 grand tours, the Tour de France winner Óscar Pereiro, the Olympians Dani Mateo and Marc Tur, the middle-distance runner Reyes Estévez, the ultra-distance runner Juan Dual, the triathlete Marta Sánchez and the trail runner Núria Picas.