THE POTENTIAL OF PALMA CITY AS CENTRE FOR CITY BREAK TOURISM

THE POTENTIAL OF PALMA CITY AS CENTRE FOR CITY BREAK TOURISM

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The idea of city breaks has gained prominence in the Palma city due to several factors. Firstly, low-cost flights with emphasis on short haul, point to point journeys, have encouraged people to visit city destinations at an affordable cost. In addition, Germans and Britons have a tendency of going for short holidays; a phenomenon that has contributed greatly to the increase of tourists visiting the city and its surroundings. Finally, the growth of the internet is helping people in their travel decision-making process while facilitating them to make online bookings and access information about their preferred destinations. The concept of city-break tourism in Palma city is encouraged by a good transport network and clustering of main attractions and amenities.  However, the potential of the city-break tourism is threatened by the reluctance of the local industry to diversify from the mass tourism model. City-break tourism is also likely to aggravate the problem of pollution.

Introduction

The Palma city is located in the Mallorca Island and its economy relies on sun-sea and sand tourism. The city is a cultural centre of the Mallorca islands, and has easily accessible beaches such as the C’an Pastilla and Cala Mayor. Tourism accounts for half of the jobs that are generated in the city. The tourism industry also impacts positively on the construction industry. To serve the huge numbers of mass tourists, 1,200 restaurants have been set up. The current tourism product portfolio is boosted by the good climatic conditions that are favorable for mass tourism. According to Amengual et al. (2012, p.2095) the city also has a good transport network, which means tourist can easily access popular hotspots all over the island. Most importantly, the Palma airport is served by low cost carriers while the cost per performance ratio is attractive. This paper examines the suitability of Palma city as a city break tourist destination.

Tourism in Palma De Majorca

Duration

Features encouraging city-break trips

City-breakers can tour Palma through three different routes. The first routes takes one to the heart of the city and some of the places one could visit include Passeig Marítim, La Llotja, the Cathedral, Es Baluard, and the Almudaina Palace (Saenz-de-Miera & Rossello 2012, p.469). The second trip takes one through the Bellver Castle, the Spanish Village and the Fun-dació Pilar (Saenz-de-Miera & Rossello 2012, p.470). City breakers could also visit the museums, shopping areas and the monuments that are located within the city (Saenz-de-Miera & Rossello 2012, p.468). Because city breakers often have limited time, during which they are supposed to visit a number of attractions they could take advantage of the tourist bus which takes the tourists around the Palma city. The tour takes 80 minutes and travels through the Beliver castle, the Spanish village, the Passeig Maritim and the shopping areas around the Palma city (Saenz-de-Miera & Rossello 2012, p.465). The tourists can get off from the tour bus as much as they want, since the tickets are valid for 24 hours.

Other attractions and short tours

During their short-stay in Palma city, the city breakers could take a stroll and enjoy the existing features such as she Beliver Woods, the Par.............