Showing posts with label Bellevue Hotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bellevue Hotel. Show all posts
Friday, April 08, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Unidentified man falls from Bellevue balcony
A man described as foreign, without papers and not known to the hotel, fell from a second floor balcony at the Bellevue hotel complex in Puerto Alcúdia this morning at just after 3am. He was taken to Inca hospital and was said to be suffering only slight injuries.
Friday, February 25, 2011
MALLORCA TODAY - Bellevue debt at 80 million euros
The Bellevue hotel and complex in Puerto Alcúdia is attracting most of the debt that has been accrued by the hotel chain Hotetur. Acquired by the Posibilitum group last year as part of the sale of assets of Grupo Marsans, Hotetur is still in difficulty, with some 100 million euros of debt hanging over it, 80% of it Bellevue's. The hotel remains the subject of a legal dispute with the Orizonia group which had a mortgage over the hotel as a guarantee for debts run up by Marsans. Bellevue is due to open on 1 April.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
With Or Without You
So after the marathon of yesterday, a bit of a follow-up.
First thing to say is that the Bellevue article was subject to approval. There was a lot that could have been and could be said, but a lot that is better unsaid. But from what was published, perhaps the most revealing aspects are those to do with going all-inclusive (AI) and the impact that this has and has had.
When the interview was conducted and the question was put as to the possibility of going totally AI, the response was a firm "maybe". Equivocal perhaps, but the intent exists. It is clear that this is what the market is demanding, whether local businesses or indeed hotels like it. The further growth of AI seems almost inevitable and not only at Bellevue. And it isn't only the "crisis" that is driving it. If businesses had preferred, hitherto, to hope that it might all just go away, they had better start re-thinking. Alcúdia is not unique either.
I had long considered the notion of responsibility, especially of such a large complex as Bellevue, to what surrounds it. I had once couched this in terms analogous to the mine, the steelworks, the factory towns of Bournville and the like. The hotel was akin to some benevolent employer around which businesses and dwellings grew. I was clearly wrong. Unlike the factory towns that needed the houses and the businesses to support the factories, somewhere like Bellevue never needed them as such, or never asked for them to emerge. It is, as the interview pointed out, a question of it (the hotel) doing what it has to do. The responsibility is not there. However, one can look at this rather differently. A hotel, any hotel, does actually need what the resort can offer, and this includes local bars and restaurants. For without them, there is no resort. It is, if you like, the apocalyptic vision of where AI might ultimately lead. Unlikely though it may be, the logic is of hotels standing isolated among closed-down businesses which then convey a poor image of the resort. Would the tourist still come? He, the tourist, may be quite happy to spend his money solely on his AI package, but he still wants the sight of bars and the rest, even if he has no intention of visiting them. The bars become almost like museum pieces. It is perhaps also pertinent to observe that Bellevue, and other hotels, themselves grew wealthy because of the emergence of local businesses which, as much as the hotels, were what attracted the tourists. There has always been a symbiotic relationship; one that has now been undermined.
Yet you can understand the hotel's attitude, at least I can. Their business is the hotel, nothing else. Do local businesses feel responsibilities to each other? Doubtful. It is also true to say that businesses grew up and owners grew wealthy merely by dint of being there. They didn't always have to work that hard for custom. And this is the crux of where we now are; whether people like it or not. It may seem harsh but the hotels do not owe the local businesses. Those businesses had it great for years. And then the market changed, as markets always change, ultimately. In this market, the hotels are no longer as strong as they once were. Witness, for instance, the tour operators insistence on price reductions in 2010. It is the tour operators and tourist demand that are advancing the cause of AI, and the hotels have to adapt and are. This represents the power in the tourist market; the local bars and the rest are subservient and have to themselves adapt, assuming they can.
QUIZ
Today's title - not so much "can't live" as "can live"; who is it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
First thing to say is that the Bellevue article was subject to approval. There was a lot that could have been and could be said, but a lot that is better unsaid. But from what was published, perhaps the most revealing aspects are those to do with going all-inclusive (AI) and the impact that this has and has had.
When the interview was conducted and the question was put as to the possibility of going totally AI, the response was a firm "maybe". Equivocal perhaps, but the intent exists. It is clear that this is what the market is demanding, whether local businesses or indeed hotels like it. The further growth of AI seems almost inevitable and not only at Bellevue. And it isn't only the "crisis" that is driving it. If businesses had preferred, hitherto, to hope that it might all just go away, they had better start re-thinking. Alcúdia is not unique either.
I had long considered the notion of responsibility, especially of such a large complex as Bellevue, to what surrounds it. I had once couched this in terms analogous to the mine, the steelworks, the factory towns of Bournville and the like. The hotel was akin to some benevolent employer around which businesses and dwellings grew. I was clearly wrong. Unlike the factory towns that needed the houses and the businesses to support the factories, somewhere like Bellevue never needed them as such, or never asked for them to emerge. It is, as the interview pointed out, a question of it (the hotel) doing what it has to do. The responsibility is not there. However, one can look at this rather differently. A hotel, any hotel, does actually need what the resort can offer, and this includes local bars and restaurants. For without them, there is no resort. It is, if you like, the apocalyptic vision of where AI might ultimately lead. Unlikely though it may be, the logic is of hotels standing isolated among closed-down businesses which then convey a poor image of the resort. Would the tourist still come? He, the tourist, may be quite happy to spend his money solely on his AI package, but he still wants the sight of bars and the rest, even if he has no intention of visiting them. The bars become almost like museum pieces. It is perhaps also pertinent to observe that Bellevue, and other hotels, themselves grew wealthy because of the emergence of local businesses which, as much as the hotels, were what attracted the tourists. There has always been a symbiotic relationship; one that has now been undermined.
Yet you can understand the hotel's attitude, at least I can. Their business is the hotel, nothing else. Do local businesses feel responsibilities to each other? Doubtful. It is also true to say that businesses grew up and owners grew wealthy merely by dint of being there. They didn't always have to work that hard for custom. And this is the crux of where we now are; whether people like it or not. It may seem harsh but the hotels do not owe the local businesses. Those businesses had it great for years. And then the market changed, as markets always change, ultimately. In this market, the hotels are no longer as strong as they once were. Witness, for instance, the tour operators insistence on price reductions in 2010. It is the tour operators and tourist demand that are advancing the cause of AI, and the hotels have to adapt and are. This represents the power in the tourist market; the local bars and the rest are subservient and have to themselves adapt, assuming they can.
QUIZ
Today's title - not so much "can't live" as "can live"; who is it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Bellevue Interview
As trailed on here, below is the result of the interview with the assistant director of Bellevue. This has now been published in "Talk Of The North", so as an additional archive, here it is. The first part is the feature itself and this is followed by some history and facts.
Realism At Bellevue
"Every day we think of how we can improve our product." To read some of the criticisms levelled at the Bellevue hotel complex, one might find that hard to believe, but listening to assistant director Syb Sijbertsma one does believe it. "Ridiculous," is his assessment of some of the things that are trotted out on the internet.
The web consumes much of our discussion time. "There is a danger with the internet. It creates too high a level of expectation." This is expectation not just of what Bellevue might have to offer but of what any hotel or destination can provide. "It used to be an adventure," the holiday that is. "But not now." Accordingly, hotels are compared with others, and in the case of Bellevue a false impression can be created through inaccuracies or through unreal expectations.
At Bellevue they are clear as to what their product is, but often it becomes distorted, not least by some tour operators who do not inform their customers correctly. The holidaymaker needs to "experience things for himself" and be realistic. As an example, we touch on a familiar criticism as to length of queues. The main restaurant can cater for 1000 at a sitting. If everyone comes at the same time, then there are bound to be queues. At Bellevue they know this, but the message does not always get across.
We have to take a step back. Back to why I felt it important to hear the Bellevue story. There were a number of factors, not least the criticisms that one read on the internet, the rumours that one constantly heard and the apparent lack of communication by the hotel in addressing these. Then there was the sheer scale of Bellevue - it is the largest holiday complex in Spain - its importance to the economy of Alcúdia and its almost iconic status. Moreover, what occurs at Bellevue is not wholly unique as it is indicative of what is occurring in the mass tourism holiday market across Mallorca and not just in the north of the island.
But let's get back to that apparent lack of communication. On Syb's computer screen are comments from the review site "Trip Advisor". Contrary to what I had believed, these are taken very seriously. However, there is frustration. While he can respond with information, that is all he can do: no opinion, no sense of criticising a poster. "If you sit with people who have a problem, you can explain and then they are normally happy. The internet is not the same." "There is always something to pick on at Bellevue," be it cleanliness, the queues, safety or even mosquitoes.
We take a walk around the complex. Five thousand people and you have to expect some litter. Yet the impression is far from unfavourable despite the lack of consideration that leads to Syb picking up discarded plastic cups or wrappers. He is, as he puts it, "manic" about collecting litter. In the middle of the afternoon, pool sides are full of guests with cups and plates. It is not just the assistant director who cleans up, there are staff everywhere in a constant battle with abandoned containers. Behaviour is an issue. He admits that it has got worse. And not just where litter is concerned. He relates stories, none of them repeatable, but they all add up to making his job far broader than just that of a manager or a strategist. He is also social worker, family counsellor, mediator. A background as a physical education instructor is perhaps useful in being able to deal with certain situations.
The fires
We take a look at the burnt-out lift in Minerva 2. The health and safety criticism is one that annoys him. It was one bandied about after the two fires. I study the specification for the hotel, note the ticks for items such as smoke detectors and alarms. "The tour operators come every year and see for themselves. They are always happy." Were they not, they wouldn't send their clients to Bellevue. He doesn't wish to go into the issue, but the TUI decision to pull out of Bellevue was not related to health and safety. "There weren't any fires for years, then two. Similar circumstances surrounding both." He cites theories as to possible origins of the fires, but they are a police matter so I am not about to repeat them.
The fires, however, were indicative of how the internet can inflame, as it were, the situation. He is critical of those whose first impulse is to go onto a review site and disseminate what is not wholly accurate. "The fires were dealt with in a perfect way," he says. The first fire, in Minerva 1, attracted more attention than the second, partly because the alarms did not sound. He explains that if there is a fire or smoke - and there was a lot of smoke and very little by way of flames with the first fire - an alarm goes off at reception. There is a five-minute delay before the alarms go off, enabling staff to investigate the nature of the fire. In the case of Minerva 1, it was under control. To have sounded the alarms would have made the situation worse by causing more panic. The Minerva 2 fire involved more flames, and the alarms were set off in this instance. One has to understand, Syb explains, that there are over 15 false alarms every week, which is why they have the system they do.
To see what was said on the internet, it was easy to form an impression as to a lack of information, but an office was set aside for four days after the fires to handle guests' queries or concerns, while there was also a press relations facility established. In terms of both safety and communications, he is satisfied that the incidents were handled well.
Responsibilities and all-inclusive
Back in Minerva 2, from a room on the eighth floor you get an impression not just of the size of the complex but also the setting. It is extraordinary. One can see the length of the Lago Esperanza and appreciate just how big that is. Across the sea and bay of Alcúdia are the mountains of Artà. I wanted to talk about responsibility, the responsibility that Bellevue has to the local community. It is the physical splendour of the immediate surroundings that informs this responsibility, the hotel's part in maintaining the beauty of the environment and in the plans to upgrade the lake area. There are other responsibilities, I suggest, and so we come to the local community and businesses.
What of all the rumours that fly around? Bellevue is being sold, Bellevue is closing, Bellevue this and Bellevue that. Is there a responsibility to respond to them? Not really, he says. Alcúdia is a small town, one in which all sorts of rumour spread quickly. To make statements might simply make matters worse, as though they would imply that there was some truth to the rumours when there never is.
And what of the impact of changes at Bellevue, most obviously all-inclusive (AI) packages? It is Syb's turn to want to take a step back. From the time Bellevue really took off as a holiday complex in the early '80s, its clientele would leave the site and patronise the bars, restaurants and shops that grew up along and off The Mile. Syb is unequivocal. "Some people got really rich on it." But things have changed. He sees no responsibility for this change. "A hotel is a hotel. We do what we do."
The AI side of the Bellevue product has grown significantly. From trialling it in 2005, it has grown to the extent that it now comprises over half the number of guests. Of a maximum occupancy this year just shy of 5100 guests, around 2800 are staying on an AI basis. "We're being pushed into it," he concedes. The crisis, as much as anything, has contributed to a rise this year from a maximum of 2000 AI guests in 2008. Despite this, he is not particularly in favour of AI, and the reasoning for this is based on the service that can be offered. "AI is like a basic family car, when you would really like to be offering a Mercedes. It's impossible on a 3-star basis." He draws a comparison with the Caribbean where costs are that much lower, allowing branded products to form part of the AI offer and far greater levels of staffing. Spain is that much more expensive. You come back to that level of expectation. Bellevue is at the limits as to what it can achieve in terms of providing AI in its restaurants, and there is an acknowledgement that some re-organisation and development will need to occur in order to comply with the diktats of the tourism ministry in terms of the space per guest. So, AI could grow more, I ask. Yes. Might Bellevue become totally AI? Maybe, he replies, but counters this by suggesting that AI could be cyclical and that it could fade away as tourist needs and demands change.
I return to the local businesses. "It was all so easy in the past," he explains. Syb constantly refers to product, and he is critical of some who have paid too little attention to their product or quality. "Other businesses will still come in," he believes in answer to the question about the impact along The Mile. "They will offer products that people want." The hotel itself has had to adapt to a changing market; this is all a part of that thinking every day as to how they can improve. He sees some evidence of businesses doing this as well. It is necessary that they do. Despite the possibility that AI is indeed cyclical, Syb says starkly that "it is AI or nothing".
Bellevue history and facts
The Bellevue complex was built between 1972 and 1974 by the same German developer behind what are now the Club Mac hotels. The Siesta apartments were sold off separately in 1974 and the Bellevue apartments were put on the market as a form of time-share option. That was the plan, but it didn't work. Between 1974 and 1983 there was little activity at Bellevue, the complex being in the hands of the bank Banesto. In 1983 the first hotel company was formed, effectively creating the complex as it now is. But there were several years of changes in the actual running of the complex until 2000 when Hotetur in partnership with My Travel took over and Banesto finally left the scene. For five years the arrangement with My Travel gave the hotel guaranteed places, but in 2005 Hotetur bought out My Travel's stake which had amounted to a minority holding of 49%.
Bellevue comprises 17 separate accommodation blocks which stand on an area of 200,000 square metres. There is facility to house over 6000 guests, but the maximum occupation in 2009 is around 5100, down on the 5500 of 2007. This can be explained partially by economic conditions but also by smaller family units. There are five different types of board category, the most popular being self-catering and all-inclusive. Around 400 staff are employed at the complex.
While the buildings are now quite old, the apartments themselves are maintained to good standards. I saw an example of each category. While they might be cramped for larger groups, they generally have ample space with kitchen units, bathrooms and toilets; the actual sizes are, respectively, 25, 35 and 45 square metres for studios and one and two-bedroomed apartments. In total there are 1468 apartments. The impression is that they are clean, functional and safe.
The breakdown of nationalities has changed this year. The main market is British at around 65 to 70%, down around 20%, but compensated for by an increase in other groups - Scandinavian, German, French and Dutch. Internet bookings are a vital part of the hotel's operations, and these can rise as high as 80%.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Razorlight, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3aAt22Y7QQ.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Realism At Bellevue
"Every day we think of how we can improve our product." To read some of the criticisms levelled at the Bellevue hotel complex, one might find that hard to believe, but listening to assistant director Syb Sijbertsma one does believe it. "Ridiculous," is his assessment of some of the things that are trotted out on the internet.
The web consumes much of our discussion time. "There is a danger with the internet. It creates too high a level of expectation." This is expectation not just of what Bellevue might have to offer but of what any hotel or destination can provide. "It used to be an adventure," the holiday that is. "But not now." Accordingly, hotels are compared with others, and in the case of Bellevue a false impression can be created through inaccuracies or through unreal expectations.
At Bellevue they are clear as to what their product is, but often it becomes distorted, not least by some tour operators who do not inform their customers correctly. The holidaymaker needs to "experience things for himself" and be realistic. As an example, we touch on a familiar criticism as to length of queues. The main restaurant can cater for 1000 at a sitting. If everyone comes at the same time, then there are bound to be queues. At Bellevue they know this, but the message does not always get across.
We have to take a step back. Back to why I felt it important to hear the Bellevue story. There were a number of factors, not least the criticisms that one read on the internet, the rumours that one constantly heard and the apparent lack of communication by the hotel in addressing these. Then there was the sheer scale of Bellevue - it is the largest holiday complex in Spain - its importance to the economy of Alcúdia and its almost iconic status. Moreover, what occurs at Bellevue is not wholly unique as it is indicative of what is occurring in the mass tourism holiday market across Mallorca and not just in the north of the island.
But let's get back to that apparent lack of communication. On Syb's computer screen are comments from the review site "Trip Advisor". Contrary to what I had believed, these are taken very seriously. However, there is frustration. While he can respond with information, that is all he can do: no opinion, no sense of criticising a poster. "If you sit with people who have a problem, you can explain and then they are normally happy. The internet is not the same." "There is always something to pick on at Bellevue," be it cleanliness, the queues, safety or even mosquitoes.
We take a walk around the complex. Five thousand people and you have to expect some litter. Yet the impression is far from unfavourable despite the lack of consideration that leads to Syb picking up discarded plastic cups or wrappers. He is, as he puts it, "manic" about collecting litter. In the middle of the afternoon, pool sides are full of guests with cups and plates. It is not just the assistant director who cleans up, there are staff everywhere in a constant battle with abandoned containers. Behaviour is an issue. He admits that it has got worse. And not just where litter is concerned. He relates stories, none of them repeatable, but they all add up to making his job far broader than just that of a manager or a strategist. He is also social worker, family counsellor, mediator. A background as a physical education instructor is perhaps useful in being able to deal with certain situations.
The fires
We take a look at the burnt-out lift in Minerva 2. The health and safety criticism is one that annoys him. It was one bandied about after the two fires. I study the specification for the hotel, note the ticks for items such as smoke detectors and alarms. "The tour operators come every year and see for themselves. They are always happy." Were they not, they wouldn't send their clients to Bellevue. He doesn't wish to go into the issue, but the TUI decision to pull out of Bellevue was not related to health and safety. "There weren't any fires for years, then two. Similar circumstances surrounding both." He cites theories as to possible origins of the fires, but they are a police matter so I am not about to repeat them.
The fires, however, were indicative of how the internet can inflame, as it were, the situation. He is critical of those whose first impulse is to go onto a review site and disseminate what is not wholly accurate. "The fires were dealt with in a perfect way," he says. The first fire, in Minerva 1, attracted more attention than the second, partly because the alarms did not sound. He explains that if there is a fire or smoke - and there was a lot of smoke and very little by way of flames with the first fire - an alarm goes off at reception. There is a five-minute delay before the alarms go off, enabling staff to investigate the nature of the fire. In the case of Minerva 1, it was under control. To have sounded the alarms would have made the situation worse by causing more panic. The Minerva 2 fire involved more flames, and the alarms were set off in this instance. One has to understand, Syb explains, that there are over 15 false alarms every week, which is why they have the system they do.
To see what was said on the internet, it was easy to form an impression as to a lack of information, but an office was set aside for four days after the fires to handle guests' queries or concerns, while there was also a press relations facility established. In terms of both safety and communications, he is satisfied that the incidents were handled well.
Responsibilities and all-inclusive
Back in Minerva 2, from a room on the eighth floor you get an impression not just of the size of the complex but also the setting. It is extraordinary. One can see the length of the Lago Esperanza and appreciate just how big that is. Across the sea and bay of Alcúdia are the mountains of Artà. I wanted to talk about responsibility, the responsibility that Bellevue has to the local community. It is the physical splendour of the immediate surroundings that informs this responsibility, the hotel's part in maintaining the beauty of the environment and in the plans to upgrade the lake area. There are other responsibilities, I suggest, and so we come to the local community and businesses.
What of all the rumours that fly around? Bellevue is being sold, Bellevue is closing, Bellevue this and Bellevue that. Is there a responsibility to respond to them? Not really, he says. Alcúdia is a small town, one in which all sorts of rumour spread quickly. To make statements might simply make matters worse, as though they would imply that there was some truth to the rumours when there never is.
And what of the impact of changes at Bellevue, most obviously all-inclusive (AI) packages? It is Syb's turn to want to take a step back. From the time Bellevue really took off as a holiday complex in the early '80s, its clientele would leave the site and patronise the bars, restaurants and shops that grew up along and off The Mile. Syb is unequivocal. "Some people got really rich on it." But things have changed. He sees no responsibility for this change. "A hotel is a hotel. We do what we do."
The AI side of the Bellevue product has grown significantly. From trialling it in 2005, it has grown to the extent that it now comprises over half the number of guests. Of a maximum occupancy this year just shy of 5100 guests, around 2800 are staying on an AI basis. "We're being pushed into it," he concedes. The crisis, as much as anything, has contributed to a rise this year from a maximum of 2000 AI guests in 2008. Despite this, he is not particularly in favour of AI, and the reasoning for this is based on the service that can be offered. "AI is like a basic family car, when you would really like to be offering a Mercedes. It's impossible on a 3-star basis." He draws a comparison with the Caribbean where costs are that much lower, allowing branded products to form part of the AI offer and far greater levels of staffing. Spain is that much more expensive. You come back to that level of expectation. Bellevue is at the limits as to what it can achieve in terms of providing AI in its restaurants, and there is an acknowledgement that some re-organisation and development will need to occur in order to comply with the diktats of the tourism ministry in terms of the space per guest. So, AI could grow more, I ask. Yes. Might Bellevue become totally AI? Maybe, he replies, but counters this by suggesting that AI could be cyclical and that it could fade away as tourist needs and demands change.
I return to the local businesses. "It was all so easy in the past," he explains. Syb constantly refers to product, and he is critical of some who have paid too little attention to their product or quality. "Other businesses will still come in," he believes in answer to the question about the impact along The Mile. "They will offer products that people want." The hotel itself has had to adapt to a changing market; this is all a part of that thinking every day as to how they can improve. He sees some evidence of businesses doing this as well. It is necessary that they do. Despite the possibility that AI is indeed cyclical, Syb says starkly that "it is AI or nothing".
Bellevue history and facts
The Bellevue complex was built between 1972 and 1974 by the same German developer behind what are now the Club Mac hotels. The Siesta apartments were sold off separately in 1974 and the Bellevue apartments were put on the market as a form of time-share option. That was the plan, but it didn't work. Between 1974 and 1983 there was little activity at Bellevue, the complex being in the hands of the bank Banesto. In 1983 the first hotel company was formed, effectively creating the complex as it now is. But there were several years of changes in the actual running of the complex until 2000 when Hotetur in partnership with My Travel took over and Banesto finally left the scene. For five years the arrangement with My Travel gave the hotel guaranteed places, but in 2005 Hotetur bought out My Travel's stake which had amounted to a minority holding of 49%.
Bellevue comprises 17 separate accommodation blocks which stand on an area of 200,000 square metres. There is facility to house over 6000 guests, but the maximum occupation in 2009 is around 5100, down on the 5500 of 2007. This can be explained partially by economic conditions but also by smaller family units. There are five different types of board category, the most popular being self-catering and all-inclusive. Around 400 staff are employed at the complex.
While the buildings are now quite old, the apartments themselves are maintained to good standards. I saw an example of each category. While they might be cramped for larger groups, they generally have ample space with kitchen units, bathrooms and toilets; the actual sizes are, respectively, 25, 35 and 45 square metres for studios and one and two-bedroomed apartments. In total there are 1468 apartments. The impression is that they are clean, functional and safe.
The breakdown of nationalities has changed this year. The main market is British at around 65 to 70%, down around 20%, but compensated for by an increase in other groups - Scandinavian, German, French and Dutch. Internet bookings are a vital part of the hotel's operations, and these can rise as high as 80%.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Razorlight, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3aAt22Y7QQ.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Can't Get No
There was a survey of tourist satisfaction recently, or perhaps one should make that dissatisfaction. You may recall my mentioning the questionnaire that does the rounds in Puerto Pollensa (29 June: Lemon Tree). That survey seems to tie in; the categories appear to be similar if not indeed the same. You may also recall in that previous piece my suggesting that much which occurs by way of market surveys gives results that are "lemons"; in other words, they prove nothing.
For what it's worth, there is a general decline in levels of satisfaction in Mallorca. Some of the lowest ratings are for public services - health being something of an exception. For all the banging on about the environment, the actual environmental settings experienced by tourists rate less than five (on a scale of one to ten). The number of people saying that they will return has fallen, yet it seems that price is not the issue some might claim it to be. The main reason for actually travelling to the island is price - which I find hard to believe - followed by the beaches and weather. Nowhere is there any mention of the likes of culture or other elements of "alternative" tourism. This is not surprising; I have said it often enough here that the Mallorca brand is all about sun and sea.
But what do we make of all of this? What do the users of the research make of all of this? The first point to make is that it is hard to know what the results actually mean. Ask people to put a quantity onto something essentially qualitative, and you immediately have a problem. What criteria does the respondent apply in making what can be a fairly arbitrary judgement? The researcher doesn't know. Unless he does, the answer is meaningless, except as an indicator, and then only a very general one.
Nevertheless, falls in satisfaction in many categories would seem to suggest that there should be concerns, but one needs to go behind such falls and appreciate the dynamics that may be affecting respondents' judgements.
Last week I spent a few hours with the assistant director at Bellevue in Alcúdia. The result of this time will be an article due to be published in "Talk Of The North". He explained to me that questionnaires Bellevue use reveal an 80% level of satisfaction with the hotel. I don't know if 20% being dissatisfied is bad or good. It depends what you are asking. Be that as it may, he had some quite revealing things to say about tourist expectations and also about the role of the internet. The crux of this was that many tourists' expectations are too high and are unrealistic. The internet, through review sites predominantly, has fuelled this. The sheer volume of information and opinion has stripped away what was once the sense of adventure in making a holiday. (When he was saying this, I could have almost heard myself speaking; precisely the same point has been made on this blog before.) Rather than experiencing holidays and hotels and so on for what they are and making a judgement as to the various aspects of those holidays with an independent mind, the judgement is prejudiced before the holiday even starts. Comparisons with other hotels, with other resorts, with other countries; all of them based on personal opinion and very often incomplete or biased information, and some of that personal opinion already informed by someone else's views. And so it goes on. But the result of all this is that the holidaymaker comes expecting either something unrealistic or expecting to find something to complain about.
Bellevue is just one example, and I should point out that from what I saw - of the apartments, the grounds, the pools etc. - there was little that one could gripe at, so long as one was being realistic. A solution to all this false expectation is to try and manage expectations - in advance. But how? The internet will always find a way of undermining this in any event: all that information, all that opinion, all those comparisons. And the tour operators don't always help either.
To discover, as the survey has, that dissatisfaction is rising may not be anything at all to do with falling standards. These may be just as good (or as bad) as they ever were; they may even actually have improved. But I come back to the point about the criteria that those interviewed adopt in conjuring up a number to put against intangible concepts of service or whatever, and those criteria are as likely to have been influenced or established by what he or she has been told on the internet as by his or her own experiences - more so in fact. We're still sitting under that lemon tree.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Kraftwerk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ. Today's title - what?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
For what it's worth, there is a general decline in levels of satisfaction in Mallorca. Some of the lowest ratings are for public services - health being something of an exception. For all the banging on about the environment, the actual environmental settings experienced by tourists rate less than five (on a scale of one to ten). The number of people saying that they will return has fallen, yet it seems that price is not the issue some might claim it to be. The main reason for actually travelling to the island is price - which I find hard to believe - followed by the beaches and weather. Nowhere is there any mention of the likes of culture or other elements of "alternative" tourism. This is not surprising; I have said it often enough here that the Mallorca brand is all about sun and sea.
But what do we make of all of this? What do the users of the research make of all of this? The first point to make is that it is hard to know what the results actually mean. Ask people to put a quantity onto something essentially qualitative, and you immediately have a problem. What criteria does the respondent apply in making what can be a fairly arbitrary judgement? The researcher doesn't know. Unless he does, the answer is meaningless, except as an indicator, and then only a very general one.
Nevertheless, falls in satisfaction in many categories would seem to suggest that there should be concerns, but one needs to go behind such falls and appreciate the dynamics that may be affecting respondents' judgements.
Last week I spent a few hours with the assistant director at Bellevue in Alcúdia. The result of this time will be an article due to be published in "Talk Of The North". He explained to me that questionnaires Bellevue use reveal an 80% level of satisfaction with the hotel. I don't know if 20% being dissatisfied is bad or good. It depends what you are asking. Be that as it may, he had some quite revealing things to say about tourist expectations and also about the role of the internet. The crux of this was that many tourists' expectations are too high and are unrealistic. The internet, through review sites predominantly, has fuelled this. The sheer volume of information and opinion has stripped away what was once the sense of adventure in making a holiday. (When he was saying this, I could have almost heard myself speaking; precisely the same point has been made on this blog before.) Rather than experiencing holidays and hotels and so on for what they are and making a judgement as to the various aspects of those holidays with an independent mind, the judgement is prejudiced before the holiday even starts. Comparisons with other hotels, with other resorts, with other countries; all of them based on personal opinion and very often incomplete or biased information, and some of that personal opinion already informed by someone else's views. And so it goes on. But the result of all this is that the holidaymaker comes expecting either something unrealistic or expecting to find something to complain about.
Bellevue is just one example, and I should point out that from what I saw - of the apartments, the grounds, the pools etc. - there was little that one could gripe at, so long as one was being realistic. A solution to all this false expectation is to try and manage expectations - in advance. But how? The internet will always find a way of undermining this in any event: all that information, all that opinion, all those comparisons. And the tour operators don't always help either.
To discover, as the survey has, that dissatisfaction is rising may not be anything at all to do with falling standards. These may be just as good (or as bad) as they ever were; they may even actually have improved. But I come back to the point about the criteria that those interviewed adopt in conjuring up a number to put against intangible concepts of service or whatever, and those criteria are as likely to have been influenced or established by what he or she has been told on the internet as by his or her own experiences - more so in fact. We're still sitting under that lemon tree.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Kraftwerk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ. Today's title - what?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Opposites Attract
Been wondering what is to be made of the now closed school in Puerto Pollensa's market square (aka church square, aka Plaça Miquel Capllonch)? Well, one element would seem to be a future enhancement of health centre facilities. The central government has approved financing to the tune of 300,000 euros towards the re-development of the actual building. As to what was the old playground, it remains to be seen. There was that talk of an ice-rink, but whether the town hall has the moolah to provide for such frippery is debatable, given the parlous state of the town hall finances. As to its being a bus station - forget it.
And opposite - in different ways - across the square yesterday was José in full "more publicity, more publicity" mode, as in things he can put up in the form of posters. I wonder what he actually does with the CDs he's given, as he was wanting another made up of the various things for which, for my sins, I have been responsible, such as the legs, trousers and clothes-pegs shot and the "olé", sweets-bowl photo. Anyway, Bony is back as though it had never been away - "don't cry". You can't keep a good man down.
Bellevue and the tour operators
It took a couple of weeks, but I have received confirmation from the First Choice press office that it is no longer operating at Puerto Alcúdia's Bellevue. There may be something in this week's "Talk Of The North" about this, which says that a response had not been received. Ah yea, lead times and all that. Anyway, now it has, and it says: "First Choice and Thomson constantly review all the hotels to which we operate to make sure that they meet the high standards we expect for our customers. We can confirm that we no longer operate to the Hotetur Bellevue as it no longer adheres to our selection process".
Well there you go. The statement does not mention anything specific, so it would be wrong to suggest anything specific, but it might be possible to hazard a guess, one I shall leave you to make.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - OMD, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdz0jas03pc. Today's title - or maybe they don't, who is she?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
And opposite - in different ways - across the square yesterday was José in full "more publicity, more publicity" mode, as in things he can put up in the form of posters. I wonder what he actually does with the CDs he's given, as he was wanting another made up of the various things for which, for my sins, I have been responsible, such as the legs, trousers and clothes-pegs shot and the "olé", sweets-bowl photo. Anyway, Bony is back as though it had never been away - "don't cry". You can't keep a good man down.
Bellevue and the tour operators
It took a couple of weeks, but I have received confirmation from the First Choice press office that it is no longer operating at Puerto Alcúdia's Bellevue. There may be something in this week's "Talk Of The North" about this, which says that a response had not been received. Ah yea, lead times and all that. Anyway, now it has, and it says: "First Choice and Thomson constantly review all the hotels to which we operate to make sure that they meet the high standards we expect for our customers. We can confirm that we no longer operate to the Hotetur Bellevue as it no longer adheres to our selection process".
Well there you go. The statement does not mention anything specific, so it would be wrong to suggest anything specific, but it might be possible to hazard a guess, one I shall leave you to make.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - OMD, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdz0jas03pc. Today's title - or maybe they don't, who is she?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Paris Is Calling
Rafael Nadal, darling of the Balearic tourism promotion courts to the tune of around six million euros worth of forehand, has inadvertently unleashed a back-handed lack of compliment to a French market to the Balearics that amounts to some 300,000 visitors. Or rather, his uncle, Toni, has delivered an overhead smash of a potentially damaging sort. Given that the islands' tourism bods had diverted 400k of promotion via the French Open - in the form of a video of Rafa inviting the French to come to the Balearics - it does seem a bit unfortunate that Toni should call the Parisian public "really stupid". On the back of Nadal's defeat at Roland Garros, his uncle and trainer, miffed at the apparent support of the tennis-goers for Roger Federer, launched his invective. To make matters worse, the director of Spanish tourism in Paris seems to have agreed with the Nadal uncle, saying that the Paris public has no style. The tourism ministry back on the islands is keeping a somewhat stupefied silence.
Terrace law - Pollensa
Pollensa political life has its own rent-a-quote politico. He has been mentioned several times before. He is the "alternative", the leader of the one-man United Left and Greens, Pepe García. He is a sort of Roger Gale of the local political scene. Anything needs saying, and up pops Pepe to deliver it. Not always without some justification, it must be added. I have previously drawn comparisons between local politics and those of university days, and Pepe reminds me of the Workers Revolutionary Party of my alma mater, albeit that there were two of them. But they were like Marc Almond and that bloke who played the keyboards who looked a bit dumb (indeed they had the same name, Dave Ball). Anyway, even the other hard left groups treated them as idiots, which is not to suggest that Pepe is one, just that he does make rather a lot of noise, as did the WRP - to no great effect, well to no effect at all in fact. It should be remembered, in his defence, that he was one of the most vocal critics of the aborted pedestrianisation scheme.
Whereas one was inclined to agree with him where that fiasco was concerned, his latest entry into the local press is unlikely to attract as much favour. He has had a go at the Pollensa town hall administration for not enforcing its own by-law in respect of the spread of tables and chairs on restaurant and bar terraces, arguing that the administration is looking to avoid confrontation. The question is, of course, why did they introduce the law if, seemingly, they don't want to antagonise business owners by seeing it through? I don't have the answer, but it was and is a petty law. It would mean, for example, restaurants in the square in Puerto Pollensa having to cut their terrace size substantially. Why? To do so would mean loss of tables and therefore potential loss of earnings and, just as importantly, the loss for tourists of the chance to sit outside on terraces, which is what most of them want to do in summer. Pepe reckons this all gives off a bad image. Sorry, he's wrong, and the town hall is right, but was also wrong in the first place.
Back in March, I drew attention to this law (20 March: Sitting Here On The Bench). It was then that one of the square's traders, José of Bony, met with the mayor who'd come on a recce. One might have expected José to have been in fighting mode, but he seemed strangely subdued and resigned to the whole thing. Around that time he also mentioned his problems, which many will know about. It's just sad that he is unlikely to be at Bony this season. It won't be the same.
Bellevue fire
There was a bit of an incident at Bellevue the night before last. It was a fire in a laundry room that led to an evacuation of some guests. It all seems to have passed off without any great problem. These things do occasionally happen. There was a fire at one of the Playa de Muro Iberostars last year. Quickly discovered, quickly evacuated and quickly dealt with.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Simon & Garfunkel, "Sounds of Silence": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZGWQauQOAQ. Today's title - French in the title.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Terrace law - Pollensa
Pollensa political life has its own rent-a-quote politico. He has been mentioned several times before. He is the "alternative", the leader of the one-man United Left and Greens, Pepe García. He is a sort of Roger Gale of the local political scene. Anything needs saying, and up pops Pepe to deliver it. Not always without some justification, it must be added. I have previously drawn comparisons between local politics and those of university days, and Pepe reminds me of the Workers Revolutionary Party of my alma mater, albeit that there were two of them. But they were like Marc Almond and that bloke who played the keyboards who looked a bit dumb (indeed they had the same name, Dave Ball). Anyway, even the other hard left groups treated them as idiots, which is not to suggest that Pepe is one, just that he does make rather a lot of noise, as did the WRP - to no great effect, well to no effect at all in fact. It should be remembered, in his defence, that he was one of the most vocal critics of the aborted pedestrianisation scheme.
Whereas one was inclined to agree with him where that fiasco was concerned, his latest entry into the local press is unlikely to attract as much favour. He has had a go at the Pollensa town hall administration for not enforcing its own by-law in respect of the spread of tables and chairs on restaurant and bar terraces, arguing that the administration is looking to avoid confrontation. The question is, of course, why did they introduce the law if, seemingly, they don't want to antagonise business owners by seeing it through? I don't have the answer, but it was and is a petty law. It would mean, for example, restaurants in the square in Puerto Pollensa having to cut their terrace size substantially. Why? To do so would mean loss of tables and therefore potential loss of earnings and, just as importantly, the loss for tourists of the chance to sit outside on terraces, which is what most of them want to do in summer. Pepe reckons this all gives off a bad image. Sorry, he's wrong, and the town hall is right, but was also wrong in the first place.
Back in March, I drew attention to this law (20 March: Sitting Here On The Bench). It was then that one of the square's traders, José of Bony, met with the mayor who'd come on a recce. One might have expected José to have been in fighting mode, but he seemed strangely subdued and resigned to the whole thing. Around that time he also mentioned his problems, which many will know about. It's just sad that he is unlikely to be at Bony this season. It won't be the same.
Bellevue fire
There was a bit of an incident at Bellevue the night before last. It was a fire in a laundry room that led to an evacuation of some guests. It all seems to have passed off without any great problem. These things do occasionally happen. There was a fire at one of the Playa de Muro Iberostars last year. Quickly discovered, quickly evacuated and quickly dealt with.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Simon & Garfunkel, "Sounds of Silence": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZGWQauQOAQ. Today's title - French in the title.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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