If You Want It Do It Yourself

What is the point of tour operators? Think about it. Break the package down, and what does it comprise? The transport, normally the airline; the transfer; the hotel or accommodation. What are the add-ons? An often ill-informed and unresponsive rep who oversees the transfer and then offers some excursions – the tour operator’s excursions – and gets “incentives” from bars and restaurants for recommending them. The odd map or publication perhaps.

Take away the three core elements – plane, transfer, accommodation – the added value amounts to little, and it can be got in any event. You don’t need a tour operator to sell you an excursion – they can be bought easily enough elsewhere and sometimes at lower cost and with better service. You don’t need a map or publication; they exist anyway. The internet offers them – www.thealcudiaguide.com for instance.

Ah, but what if there are problems? With the hotel or with illness? Maybe, but even then the rep can amount to next than useless. This is not to criticise all reps. Some are very good, but many are not. You might remember me posting an exchange I had with a rep at the Oro Playa in Puerto Pollensa – the one about the pinewalk. The rep did not know where it was, yet had been at the hotel for a good couple of months. The pinewalk is roughly two minutes walk from the hotel.

My understanding is that the tour operators are wanting to cut back on their “human” service as it is. They know that fewer and fewer people bother with the excruciating welcome meetings. Thomson, for instance, has a helpline service anyway. The tour operator may well offer its own kids’ club activities and entertainment, but many hotels have their own.

But the key issue is that of price. Doing a holiday “DIY” can result in significant savings. Book with a low-cost airline, book the accommodation through the abundance of bonded online agencies or direct with the hotel, and book the transfer with a taxi firm or transfer operator. The transfer may be a sticking point for many, but the tour operator doesn’t exactly exclude this cost from its pricing. There is an advantage – none of all that dropping people off at other hotels before finally reaching your own. Add these all up, and you are still often going to be quids in.

The advantage of the tour operator, obviously, is that it is all done for you, but it is the very nature of the “package” that creates the additional cost. In theory, with the buying power of the major tour operators, one would have thought that they would be more competitive on price, but this is not necessarily the reality. There is though another side to that buying power, and that is the security that hotels get from contracting to a tour operator. This guarantees the hotel’s return and also limits the number of spaces available independently. However, the hotels are increasingly prepared to deal direct or through an agency.

There are parts of the world where booking through a tour operator makes perfect sense – it gives a peace of mind that DIY might not offer. Mallorca is not one of these parts of the world; it also has the distinct advantage of being served by a number of low-cost airlines. And there are real savings out there. For the north in Alcúdia, Pollensa or Can Picafort: EasyJet or Jet2; AlphaRooms or Travel Republic; Majorca Airport Transfers or Just Transfers. No Frills Excursions for the excursions. The guides and websites I’m involved with. One might even mention the mobile-phone service of Travel Buddy as an additional point of assistance. Why bother with a tour operator?


QUIZ
Yesterday – “The Killing Moon” was Echo And The Bunnymen. The missing names were The Johnsons and Belle. Today’s title – American female soul singer, a survivor.
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