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Crime rates have fallen by 87% in Magaluf following a drop the number of young British holidaymakers visiting the notorious Majorcan party resort.
The number of Britons aged 16 to 25 has dropped, replaced by couples aged 30 or more, according to a mid-season report by the Magaluf Hotel Association.
Organised pub crawls have significantly reduced, with pubs in the Punta Ballena area reporting revenues down by 40%.
Positive progress has been made in security and public order. After the approval of new law-enforcement measures and a greater presence of both Spanish and, more recently, British police, anti-social behaviour in Punta Ballena and other nearby streets is climbed to be in decline.
Figures show a fall in crime – robberies, prostitution, hawking and drug dealing – with three arrests compared to 23 in 2014; and 50 per cent fewer guests being expelled from hotels for bad behaviour. Fifty per cent fewer cases of balcony falls in Magaluf have also been reported.
These measures, in addition to the shift of tourist profile, are directly contributing to the decrease in Punta Ballena Pub crawls from other destinations in Majorca.
The resort is cutting its dependency on British tourists with an increase from Italian, German, Portuguese and Swedish holidaymakers.
A 3.2% increase in the number of family groups as well as a 2 per cent rise in couples/adults has come at the expense of British youth, down 9 per cent in stays, equating to 50,000 less 16-25 year olds.
However, the UK still represents more than half of the 1.5 million stays up to July.
Hotels are moving away from all-inclusive packages, which make up around 30% of the Magaluf market, in an effort to attract more “affluent and sophisticated” visitors.
A total of 44 hotels have been renovated since 2011 as part of repositioning efforts in Magaluf which will see a further 10 being refurnished and four being upgraded to four star during 2015/16.
Sebastián Darder, chairman of the Palmanova/Magaluf Hotel Association, said that “the firm commitment to the future from the majority of the resort’s hotels has shown that it was possible to achieve the most difficult of all objectives”.
He added: “All that remains is that we don’t look back, but rather continue to focus on consolidating the new tourism model and building greater levels of trust amongst our new types of guests.”