Wishful Thinking

I fear there is a Grand Delusion. It is a delusion of wishful thinking.

Mallorca’s winter tourism. Let us not talk about what it might once have been, but do let us talk about what it is and what it might become. I was given some figures for a major tour operator’s customers coming to Mallorca - the volume for the months of November to March is roughly 10% of the total for April to October.

The Grand Delusion stems from a belief that this 10% can be somehow magicked up ... up to what? The Grand Delusion envisages cultural, natural, gastronomic, sporting and shopping tourism. These are largely peripheral. Mallorca’s strength is also its weakness. Its strength is its being a destination for sun and beach tourism. It is a strength by association, whether by the family tourist, the lad-and-ladette Magaluf brigades, the romantic couple, or even by those who do seek more than just a tan and a hangover. The weakness is that it is associated, by the majority, with its core business, something that allows rival destinations to be at the head of the check-in queue when it comes to departures for a winter holiday.

Go to a travel agency and see what the brochures offer. Winter sun destinations, city breaks. The tour operators are no fools. The Canaries, the Caribbean, Egypt; Rome, Prague, Barcelona.

Mallorca is caught in a double bind; it is neither winter sun nor city break. Palma is lower league compared with the Premiership of, say, Barcelona. All the other peripheral aspects are competing with destinations that often have stronger claims. Under the Grand Delusion, we are offered, in the case of Alcúdia, an arts and science museum. Has anyone asked tourists or prospective tourists how many of them would be enticed to come off-season for an hour or so wandering around it?

The editor of “The Bulletin” today argues that more could be made of “excellent shopping facilities, ... fine restaurants, scenic countryside”. More could indeed be made, but this is brochure talk; it offers nothing that cannot be obtained in many other places. He also asks for a “little imagination” in order to attract greater winter tourism. The problem is that any imagination that is being applied at present is constrained by a set of offers which face significant competition. There should not be a “little” imagination: there needs to be a lot. Half-jokingly, I have referred before to there being a Center Parcs or two. Maybe this needs to be serious. Maybe there needs to be a huge theme park or two. It won’t happen.

Mallorca’s strength - its association with sun and therefore mass tourism - should be made to work for the winter as well. All the other things just chip away at the edges. The Grand Delusion errs by wishing a Mallorca that defies a general perception. It’s wishful thinking.


QUIZ
Yesterday - All Saints ( reference All Saints Day) - sang “Black Coffee”, one of the best “girl-group” songs, in my opinion. Today’s title - which Liverpool group ?

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