A Bigger Splash: Mallorca's gay tourism

Do you remember the days of Miss World when it was an annual telly feast, Michael Aspel attempting to tease out nuggets of wisdom from Miss Wants To Travel And Have World Peace of whichever country it was? For some reason, the BBC decided it no longer wanted 30 million viewers, and so Miss World went peripatetic, guided as if by a FIFA of global female pageantry, finding its way to different continents and, in the process, giving a major boost to tourism in the city of Sanya in China, which has hosted the contest five times this century.

Beauty contests and tourism. It had never occurred to me that Miss World might be a positive factor in increasing tourism, but then why not? If the Olympics, a World Cup or even Eurovision can be, then so can a beauty parade that is beamed across the globe. Maybe Mallorca should try and get in on the act and put the Palacio de Congresos in Palma (when it's finally built) to some meaningful purpose and stage "beauty with a purpose" (as the Miss World slogan has it).

They may not be Miss World, but there are beauty contests in Mallorca. Angela Flores is the current holder of the Miss Balearics title, and in May the second Mr Gay Mallorca will be held in Cala Rajada. David Vilches was last year's winner and he went forward to the grand final of Mr Gay España in Madrid where he lost out to Mr Gay Murcia.

Not content with hoovering up whatever football prizes may be on offer, Spain has a highly creditable reputation when it comes to the European gay crown, having scooped the Mr Gay Europe award in successive years (2008 and 2009). So, aspirants to the Mallorca title in May will know that greater riches await if they can get through the provincial and national qualifiers.

But what of the tourism angle? Capdepera town hall representatives and the organisers of Mr Gay Mallorca have been at the Fitur tourism trade fair in Madrid, promoting the event in the Cala Rajada resort and explaining that lesbian and gay tourism is one of "quality" and that it adds value to the town. Lesbian and gay people can no doubt feel reassured that they are considered to be "quality"; in other words, they've got a fair amount of spare cash to splash.

Would the event really create more by way of tourism and more by way of tourism from a gay niche market for Cala Rajada? Possibly it might, but Cala Rajada isn't Sanya in China and Mr Gay Mallorca isn't Miss World. Neither have quite the same exposure or recognition. The first contest last year did, after all, attract only eight contestants; it wasn't exactly a massive deal.

In terms of creating awareness of the resort, there is probably some benefit, but a one-off event at the end of May doesn't equate to Cala Rajada becoming or being a gay hotspot. I might be wrong, but I would have thought that gay tourists would prefer somewhere with more of a, how can one put it, gay infrastructure. Palma perhaps, or more obviously Ibiza.

Part of the problem for Cala Rajada and for Mallorca as a whole is one of image. In general terms, Mallorca is looked upon as being essentially a "family" tourism destination. Not exclusively of course, but an alternative type of tourism, that attracted by the club scene, tends to be confined to Palma and to Magalluf. I'm not suggesting that all that gay tourists want are clubs, but clubs certainly are an attraction. And Ibiza has far more of a reputation in this respect than Mallorca and specifically Cala Rajada.

Going after the pink pound or euro is fair enough, but as with attempts to attract other new markets, there is the familiar problem of promotion being geared firmly towards the sun-and-beach family tourist. It is a further example of nibbling away at niche markets without the benefit of having created the appropriate impression in the minds of potential tourists or, in the case of gay tourism to a place such as Cala Rajada, of having the type of offer that might make it appealing for more than one evening in May.

Mr Gay Mallorca may put Cala Rajada momentarily on the gay map, it may make a very minor splash in terms of attracting the quality gay tourist with the cash to splash, but let's be honest, if it were a toss-up between Mr Gay Mallorca and Miss World, which would make the bigger tourism splash?


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.