We are now well into the summer season and the streets of Ibiza seem busy yet I’m hearing the same story from a lot of local businesses: takings down, profit down.
Here at Ibiza Property Shop we had a great start to the year with villa holiday rentals performing well however since April it’s been a struggle with heavy discounts in May & June. I spoke to traders in Ibiza Town and San Antonio this week who tell me the same story: Lots of people around but takings down is the recurring theme.
Of course the super clubs and beach clubs are doing very well but that’s like saying Old Trafford is busy on a Saturday afternoon when Man U are at home. The world class venues will always perform well but it is the smaller local traders and family businesses that are concerned that the same few get the lions share of the pie. We all know that from mid July to mid September the island is going to be madness, it always is, but how can local business survive on 60 days per year? it’s the shoulder periods that we need to maximize for us all to have a truly good year.
Why?
I can only put it down to the shifting patterns of tourism with long weekend breaks now becoming more prevalent and tourists spending all their money on 2 or 3 major events then cutting back during the rest of their stay. Many now want to stay close to the big venues such as Ocean Beach, Ushuaia and Hard Rock and there is definitely over capacity in the villa rental market, where there used to be a few hundred villas for rent any search will now give you over 3000 options. It also appears that the mid market is deserting the island so as a business you’ve got to be either bargain basement or top end.
Aviation continues to be a problem with Ibiza flight prices being higher than our competitors who also enjoy better flight times. This is a historic problems but the simple fact is that Ibiza people will put up with flights at ungodly hours whereas Mallorca and Marbella people won’t.
The changing dynamic to weekend breaks has taken the traditional businesses a little by surprise so we are playing catch up but Ibiza doesn’t stay behind for long. The White Isle is constantly evolving but the increase in competition on the island and by emerging destinations means that we need to consistently up our game and be more flexible especially during the lower and mid seasons months.
Ibiza continues to enjoy incredible growth but as with in any competition there are always winners and losers and June has proved that so far.
"MAN IN SAN AN" by Martin Makepeace 