The stunning birth of tourism on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera

Abstract

Ibiza, one of the largest and most celebrated tourist destinations in the world, sprang into life in the midst of the Great Depression. At that time, the tourist business was changing rapidly, and Ibiza’s entrepreneurs succeeded in detecting this and doing everything within their power to exploit it to the maximum, creating a tourist offer of international standing in just a few years. This article analyses the birth of tourism on the islands of Ibiza and Formentera from an economic point of view (i.e., as a function of supply and demand), focusing on three core elements: economic growth, island environment, and the introduction of tourism. The 1930–1934 tourism boom in Ibiza and Formentera was made possible, above all, because of the factor of entrepreneurship — an element that is typically left out of most models that analyse tourism development.