Blue Hotel

There are times when I almost lose the will to live, and not just because of England’s football team, about which more below. One more time with feeling, my friends, one more time ... winter tourism (or rather the lack thereof), “Euro Weekly”, unnamed spokesperson, “some help from the politicians and big tour operators would be welcomed”. For God’s sake - what? Offer a solution not a constant reiteration of the problem. Why the heck should the tour operators help?

Today’s EW piece refers also to the statement from the Mallorcan Hotel Federation that there are 250 hotels open on the island over the winter. I don’t know how they get to this figure, but I suspect there is a clue in what the tour operators are offering in winter. Thomson for example, who will not be flying into Palma from mid-January to end-February, have their winter offers. Among these are the Puerto Azul hotel in Puerto Pollensa. You cannot book this hotel in say December, but you can in March; Easter is early in 2008, in March in fact. March is winter, all of it in tourist-season terms. That’s probably how they get to that 250 figure. So, I have sympathy for those challenging this statistic. I also have great sympathy for those who would like to keep their businesses going and being profitable over winter, but I do think a bit of reality needs to come in; no, make that a lot of reality.

There is, however, a potential move afoot which may impact positively on year-round tourism, namely the introduction of so-called condohotels, meaning - I assume - that people could own their own rooms or more likely apartments in certain hotels. Could be a good idea.


Anyway - football. One positive that can be drawn from the fact that none of the teams from the British Isles will be competing in Euro 2008 is that there will be no excuse for holidaymakers staying at home for the footy and not coming to Mallorca. There again, no England, no Scotland, no Ireland etc., no crammed bars for matches. Can’t have it both ways, I suppose.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Billy Fury was the one I was thinking of, but there were others. Bobby Vee or Bobby Vinton I think. Goffin and King song anyway. Today’s title - apart from naming the artist, what specifically in today’s piece is “blue”?

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