According to new research younger holiday makers are helping to ease Spain’s falling visitor numbers.

UK bookings to Spain have fallen by 23.4 percent while a study by the Co operative Travel of 20,000 bookings has shown the decline has reversed in younger age groups.

The UK’s top package holiday destination, Majorca, has seen an increased rise in bookings for holiday makers under the age of 30. Bookings rose 5 percent for those under 21 from 17 percent to 22 percent and increased 3 per cent for those between 21 and 30 to 20 percent.

Ibiza has seen its share of bookings rise by 4 percent to 11 percent of package holidays for the under 30’s.

Spanish resorts are losing bookings with the older holiday makers with a drop of between 3 and 4 percent of bookings to Majorca for all other ages.

Research has shown that Majorca is the number one choice for summer 2009 representing 24 percent of package holiday bookings, to the top ten destinations. Dalaman in Turkey is the nearest competitor with 15 percent of bookings.

Top ten summer 2009 destinations for holidaymakers of all ages.
1. Majorca – 24.2%
2. Dalaman – 15.8%
3. Crete – 10.1%
4. Orlando – 8.9%
5. Costa Blanca – 7.3%
6. Ibiza – 7.27%
7. Tenerife – 7.22%
8. Larnaca – 6.4%
9. Sharm el Sheikh – 6.34%
10. Zante – 6.3%

Trevor Davis the independent agency chain’s retail distribution director said “The decline in bookings to Spain has been a growing trend over the last two years, with Egypt and Turkey the main beneficiaries”.

“The Spanish Tourist Office has responded by attempting to increase its appeal to younger bookers, showing them that there’s more to Spain than sun and sangria”.

“According to our research this approach seems to be working and is good news for the long term prospects of the Spanish travel market”.