Menorca will have 6.3 million euros to spend on tourism promotion next year. Lucky old Menorca, a beneficiary of the magnanimous gesture by the regional government to facilitate islands' own promotion, which is something the islands should have been doing for years.
One says this, but the islands have in fact been engaged in their own promotion in the past and now in the present. They are fully entitled to under the statutes of autonomy which grant rights for tourism organisation to the island councils. At present, though, there is a grand and ongoing ceremony for the transfer of responsibilities, as if these haven't existed. The real meaning behind this ceremonious "traspaso" is money, which is where Menorca's 6.3 million enters the equation. How much does the Balearic Tourism Agency spend on promotion? Not as much as Menorca will be next year. It currently spends around half the amount, and if Podemos had its way, it would be no more one tenth the amount.
There is an additional meaning, the true sense (perhaps) of responsibility. The islands, keepers of their own promotional fortunes, will be able to determine what they promote and how they promote. In marketing terms, they will be able to differentiate and devise products in support of this differentiation. They will become their own brands.
Ibiza, it should be noted, already possesses these official responsibilities. The road to the transfer to all the islands has been a long and tortuous one, with political obstacles and opportunism making it alternatively a rocky or smooth way. Because José Ramón Bauzá had his "issues" with Ibiza (or rather Ibiza had its issues with him), that island acquired its responsibilities when he was president. As attempts go in trying to keep electorates and party members sweet, it wasn't a notable success.
Bauzá, if only in a half-hearted fashion, had intended handing responsibilities to all the islands. He was unable to primarily because of money. Formentera, in particular, was outraged at how little was on offer. Mallorca, under the austere management of Maria Salom, didn't want the responsibilities because of the cost and potential for duplication.
Tourism minister Biel Barceló, when he was a member of the opposition, attacked the Bauzá government over its failure to comply with the legality of transfer. This came back to haunt him when the PP taunted him earlier this year for precisely the same reason. It had been understood that responsibilities were to have been transferred at the start of this year: they obviously weren't.
The financial allocations to the other islands are still a bit of a mystery. Menorca has gone public and its 6.3 million is a substantial amount. The president of the Council of Mallorca, Miquel Ensenyat, said in January that his council might expect some nine million euros. This, however, would be an "outrage", not because it would be too little but because it would be too much. It would be outrageous to spend so much on tourism promotion.
Ensenyat, who has made no bones about his desire to turn the Council into a de facto government for Mallorca, is nevertheless astute enough to recognise the dangers not just of budgets but also of duplication. Under Maria Munar and Francina Armengol, the Council created duplication aplenty: tourism was just one area. When dismissing the nine million euros as outrageous, he also said that the Council was working on trying to establish the framework for the tourism responsibilities. It was a revealing statement. No one was too sure what was to be transferred.
When he made these observations, Ensenyat was in Madrid for the Fitur tourism fair. And why was he there? If, in theory, the Council of Mallorca doesn't yet have responsibilities for promotion, then what is it doing attending a major event like Fitur? But it does have responsibilities and it does its own promotion, such as the cartoon map it produced (which was rather clever) and that was on show at Fitur. Moreover, these responsibilities appear to be divided between the departments for economic affairs and for culture. The Walking on Words initiative, as an example, is a culture department product. It can be dressed up as culture, but it is a tourism promotion device.
Things are a muddle. That much is clear. Or not. Fundamentally, the islands should have responsibilities. They differ from each other. They should be branded according to the attributes that each possesses. The global Balearic brand has never made much sense. But at the very moment when they are to acquire the cash (meaningful cash in the case of Menorca) to do so, there is the political requirement to rein back on promotion because of the horrors of saturation.
The transfers are to be in place for the start of 2018, but one forms the impression - because of this political requirement - that the government would prefer that they weren't.
Showing posts with label Responsibilities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Responsibilities. Show all posts
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Thursday, June 02, 2016
Exasperation: Too Many Authorities
Toni Mir is the mayor of Alcudia. In my dealings with him, he has always come across as being very straightforward: straight to the point, no nonsense. It may be because of this that he can get slightly exasperated. When things get in the way that deviate from the point, it can be understandable.
It was a meeting on Tuesday to consider a new bridge that has been built. Businesses are up in arms because they say it will take trade from them; they being located on the Bellevue half of the Avenida Pedro Mas y Reus, more popularly known as The Mile (other names can also apply).
The source of the exasperation was an agency which, despite it having a Balearic delegation, is a long way distant: the Costas Authority. The very mention of the Costas has at times been something to send even the most mild-mannered into a fit of rage. Or to make the strongest tremble.
It is a curious fact that in Alcudia the powers of the Costas stretch inland. Because the City of Lakes (and Albufera) are linked by canals to the sea, there is land influenced by the sea: the Costas' domain. These powers have been such, however, that the authority has done little or nothing for the City of Lakes down the now getting on for fifty years of its existence. When it was finally shaken out of its torpor a couple of years ago, it decided to install some new bridges: they were long overdue.
It could all be of course that because Madrid is a long way away there was going to be some issue with these bridges. And there is: one bridge in particular. The Costas, benevolent with its one million plus investment, came up with the plan and went ahead without consultation. You've been hounding us for investment for years, so don't complain now that the investment has been forthcoming. That might seem like the attitude. For Toni Mir it's a case of a division of government taking too little account of local needs. Exasperation.
It's a story though that is commonplace. For Alcudia it just so happens that the town hall is affected by the Costas more than in other coastal resorts. They all are in one way or another, as they are affected by other divisions of government. Alcudia has to concern itself with the Balearic Ports Authority: the port is a state-run port. Other ports come under a different ports authority. There is talk of making the two work together in the future. And surely not before time.
Town halls can generally be thought to know what's best for their resorts, for their beaches and facilities. Decentralised government is such that the town halls do have a good deal of responsibility but they are also bound by the regulations of others. There do of course need to be these regulations, but it is the multiplicity of regulation in the hands of different parts of government, the at-times contradictory nature of this regulation and the sheer difficulty of knowing where the buck actually stops (if at all) that can and does generate exasperation.
Here's perhaps the craziest one of all. In Manacor. The problem of overcrowding on the unspoiled beach of Cala Varques is nothing new: it has existed for years. The town hall decided to take the matter into its own hands last summer and seek to prevent cars being parked on the approach road to the cove. All this achieved was to create a new problem, one of parking on the main road: Tráfico had a field day with parking tickets.
This year, the town hall (a different administration to the one in power last summer, as it was thrown out after a vote of no confidence) has set about trying to establish some lines of responsibility for Cala Varques. Lines of responsibility? How many can there possibly be? And that is precisely the issue. The town hall has had to engage an external company to fathom them all out and to arrive at a definitive "plan of uses" for the beach, the roads, parking and what have you. This company has had to consider: the town hall and so therefore also the local police; the National Police, which is centred in Manacor; the Guardia Civil with its traffic function; the Council of Mallorca; the regional government; and, yes, the Costas Authority. It's no wonder that there can be exasperation when taking all this lot into account. The town hall can be grateful that there isn't a port at Cala Varques; it's had enough of an issue in this regard with Porto Cristo.
It's a story repeated to varying degrees around the coast of Mallorca. So many authorities, so many regulations, too little action. And when action is taken, it causes its own exasperation. There's a bridge in Alcudia doing just that.
It was a meeting on Tuesday to consider a new bridge that has been built. Businesses are up in arms because they say it will take trade from them; they being located on the Bellevue half of the Avenida Pedro Mas y Reus, more popularly known as The Mile (other names can also apply).
The source of the exasperation was an agency which, despite it having a Balearic delegation, is a long way distant: the Costas Authority. The very mention of the Costas has at times been something to send even the most mild-mannered into a fit of rage. Or to make the strongest tremble.
It is a curious fact that in Alcudia the powers of the Costas stretch inland. Because the City of Lakes (and Albufera) are linked by canals to the sea, there is land influenced by the sea: the Costas' domain. These powers have been such, however, that the authority has done little or nothing for the City of Lakes down the now getting on for fifty years of its existence. When it was finally shaken out of its torpor a couple of years ago, it decided to install some new bridges: they were long overdue.
It could all be of course that because Madrid is a long way away there was going to be some issue with these bridges. And there is: one bridge in particular. The Costas, benevolent with its one million plus investment, came up with the plan and went ahead without consultation. You've been hounding us for investment for years, so don't complain now that the investment has been forthcoming. That might seem like the attitude. For Toni Mir it's a case of a division of government taking too little account of local needs. Exasperation.
It's a story though that is commonplace. For Alcudia it just so happens that the town hall is affected by the Costas more than in other coastal resorts. They all are in one way or another, as they are affected by other divisions of government. Alcudia has to concern itself with the Balearic Ports Authority: the port is a state-run port. Other ports come under a different ports authority. There is talk of making the two work together in the future. And surely not before time.
Town halls can generally be thought to know what's best for their resorts, for their beaches and facilities. Decentralised government is such that the town halls do have a good deal of responsibility but they are also bound by the regulations of others. There do of course need to be these regulations, but it is the multiplicity of regulation in the hands of different parts of government, the at-times contradictory nature of this regulation and the sheer difficulty of knowing where the buck actually stops (if at all) that can and does generate exasperation.
Here's perhaps the craziest one of all. In Manacor. The problem of overcrowding on the unspoiled beach of Cala Varques is nothing new: it has existed for years. The town hall decided to take the matter into its own hands last summer and seek to prevent cars being parked on the approach road to the cove. All this achieved was to create a new problem, one of parking on the main road: Tráfico had a field day with parking tickets.
This year, the town hall (a different administration to the one in power last summer, as it was thrown out after a vote of no confidence) has set about trying to establish some lines of responsibility for Cala Varques. Lines of responsibility? How many can there possibly be? And that is precisely the issue. The town hall has had to engage an external company to fathom them all out and to arrive at a definitive "plan of uses" for the beach, the roads, parking and what have you. This company has had to consider: the town hall and so therefore also the local police; the National Police, which is centred in Manacor; the Guardia Civil with its traffic function; the Council of Mallorca; the regional government; and, yes, the Costas Authority. It's no wonder that there can be exasperation when taking all this lot into account. The town hall can be grateful that there isn't a port at Cala Varques; it's had enough of an issue in this regard with Porto Cristo.
It's a story repeated to varying degrees around the coast of Mallorca. So many authorities, so many regulations, too little action. And when action is taken, it causes its own exasperation. There's a bridge in Alcudia doing just that.
Monday, March 03, 2014
Cat Among Pigeons: Council of Mallorca
President Bauzá let a cat out of the bag last week and it ran amok among the pigeons, scattering them and producing an almighty racket and squawking. These were the pigeons of the Council of Mallorca and its friends and defenders. The cat had previously only been allowed to peer through the cage of the fenced-off Council. Now, the cage door was opened, and Bauzá, having made less assertive intimations in the past, was alongside the cat with both barrels of a gun loaded. If it were down to him, he would shoot most of the pigeons dead, reduce the Council to a minimum, and he would do so immediately.
Bauzá made his feelings about the Council known at a debate organised by Deloitte for the Association of Advanced Management. It would seem that these feelings drew applause from the assembled businesspeople. And why might they applaud? Probably for the same reasons that many others would applaud. What really is the point of the Council of Mallorca? Is it not just an expensive and somewhat unnecessary level of government? Is it not a means of providing jobs for the boys and girls?
Before considering the merits of Bauzá's argument and those who have been doing the squawking, it is instructive to know something of the background to the Council. It was, as was the case with the councils on the other islands (with the exception of Formentera, whose separate council was only established seven years ago), a product of the immediate post-Franco period. The councils replaced the Balearics provincial deputation, and they were formed to reflect the needs of the individual islands and also to dilute a concentration of administrative power in Mallorca. But having established the councils, a few years later (1983), the autonomous community of the Balearics came into existence, which meant a regional government. The roles of the councils, which might then have been considered to have been superfluous, were written in to the statutes of autonomy, and there they have stayed ever since.
These statutes set out the various responsibilities of the councils, and armed with this list of responsibilities, the councils grew like Topsy, becoming larger and more powerful and creating bigger and more local government with no small amount of duplication. The councils, therefore, took on a life of their own, and it wasn't until Bauzá became president that these life forms began to become the focus for some serious scrutiny, especially the Council of Mallorca.
In the address to his business audience, Bauzá said that he would prefer to see the Council reduced to a role in which it provided legal and technical assistance to the municipalities and no more. He didn't envisage the same for the other island councils, and this was an acknowledgement and reinforcement of the particular needs of the other islands, as had been established back in the 1970s. But having put the cat among the pigeons, there was the inevitable squawking: Bauzá doesn't understand the island's institution; Bauzá is acting like a "dictator" (again); Bauzá wishes to destroy regionalism, blah, blah.
While there are those at the Council of Mallorca who are said to be privately angered by Bauzá opening up with both barrels, the loudest squawking has come from opposition parties, notably those on the left. But behind their protests, one has the distinct impression of anxieties being expressed as to a loss of significance and of potential jobs for politicians of all parties, not only those on the left. Were the centrist Unió Mallorquina still in existence, one could have imagined that it would have been squawking the loudest of all; the Council of Mallorca was once its virtual fiefdom, and we all know where that led - to the courts.
Bauzá is right to question the role of the Council, but a reduction in its powers and role might not be that simple. Apart from the statutes of autonomy, there are some of its functions, and under national reform of local government these could in fact be increased if responsibilities currently held by municipalities were to be transferred to it. But if not the Council, then it would have to be the regional government. Some organisation has to take responsibility for services; cutting out or reducing a layer of government means savings but only some.
If it is the president's intention to kick off a reasoned debate about the Council, then he has failed. He won't get one because there are too many vested interests who would not be prepared to even enter into a debate. Moreover, going in with both barrels loaded, shooting from the hip is no way to persuade. He is firing at pigeons who can strike back from on height, not at fish in a barrel. He should be more cognisant of sensitivities. If he were, then he might get a reasoned debate.
Bauzá made his feelings about the Council known at a debate organised by Deloitte for the Association of Advanced Management. It would seem that these feelings drew applause from the assembled businesspeople. And why might they applaud? Probably for the same reasons that many others would applaud. What really is the point of the Council of Mallorca? Is it not just an expensive and somewhat unnecessary level of government? Is it not a means of providing jobs for the boys and girls?
Before considering the merits of Bauzá's argument and those who have been doing the squawking, it is instructive to know something of the background to the Council. It was, as was the case with the councils on the other islands (with the exception of Formentera, whose separate council was only established seven years ago), a product of the immediate post-Franco period. The councils replaced the Balearics provincial deputation, and they were formed to reflect the needs of the individual islands and also to dilute a concentration of administrative power in Mallorca. But having established the councils, a few years later (1983), the autonomous community of the Balearics came into existence, which meant a regional government. The roles of the councils, which might then have been considered to have been superfluous, were written in to the statutes of autonomy, and there they have stayed ever since.
These statutes set out the various responsibilities of the councils, and armed with this list of responsibilities, the councils grew like Topsy, becoming larger and more powerful and creating bigger and more local government with no small amount of duplication. The councils, therefore, took on a life of their own, and it wasn't until Bauzá became president that these life forms began to become the focus for some serious scrutiny, especially the Council of Mallorca.
In the address to his business audience, Bauzá said that he would prefer to see the Council reduced to a role in which it provided legal and technical assistance to the municipalities and no more. He didn't envisage the same for the other island councils, and this was an acknowledgement and reinforcement of the particular needs of the other islands, as had been established back in the 1970s. But having put the cat among the pigeons, there was the inevitable squawking: Bauzá doesn't understand the island's institution; Bauzá is acting like a "dictator" (again); Bauzá wishes to destroy regionalism, blah, blah.
While there are those at the Council of Mallorca who are said to be privately angered by Bauzá opening up with both barrels, the loudest squawking has come from opposition parties, notably those on the left. But behind their protests, one has the distinct impression of anxieties being expressed as to a loss of significance and of potential jobs for politicians of all parties, not only those on the left. Were the centrist Unió Mallorquina still in existence, one could have imagined that it would have been squawking the loudest of all; the Council of Mallorca was once its virtual fiefdom, and we all know where that led - to the courts.
Bauzá is right to question the role of the Council, but a reduction in its powers and role might not be that simple. Apart from the statutes of autonomy, there are some of its functions, and under national reform of local government these could in fact be increased if responsibilities currently held by municipalities were to be transferred to it. But if not the Council, then it would have to be the regional government. Some organisation has to take responsibility for services; cutting out or reducing a layer of government means savings but only some.
If it is the president's intention to kick off a reasoned debate about the Council, then he has failed. He won't get one because there are too many vested interests who would not be prepared to even enter into a debate. Moreover, going in with both barrels loaded, shooting from the hip is no way to persuade. He is firing at pigeons who can strike back from on height, not at fish in a barrel. He should be more cognisant of sensitivities. If he were, then he might get a reasoned debate.
Monday, October 22, 2012
The Angry Councillor: Mallorca's local government
Maria Salom is angry. So it is said. I wonder just how angry she really is.
The president of the Council of Mallorca is unhappy because the regional government - her mates in the Partido Popular therefore - are not parting with cash and handing it over in order to fill the Council's piggy bank. Short of some 220 million euros, Salom says that there will be no alternative but to pass responsibilities that the Council has to the government.
I don't buy the anger thing. It sounds as though Maria is paving the way for doing what an awful lot of people have been saying should have happened ages ago, i.e. letting the government take on responsibilities. The logical conclusion of letting it do so would be to wave goodbye to the Council. So long and good riddance.
As president, Maria has to be seen to be defending the Council, if only for political consumption that is devoured by a minority of the island's population. She can't actually come out and say that it would be preferable if the government were to assume responsibilities, as this would leave her open to accusations that she had been deliberately working towards this aim. But she can profess anger and at the same time still demonstrate her credentials in having been able to lop off some of the Council's huge debt.
Salom has managed to eat into this debt, and boy did it need eating into. In August last year it was said to stand at 329 million euros. This, to put it into perspective, was only 26 million euros short of what the Balearic Government has now requested in the form of rescue payment from Madrid. To say that the debt was massive would be an understatement.
Before she was elected as Council president in May last year, Salom had gone on record as saying that she intended eliminating functions that the Council had managed somehow to accumulate. She described the Council as an expensive and inefficient behemoth, a description it was impossible to disagree with. Some of these accumulated functions have been dispensed with, such as the Council's own tourism set-up, but the Council still requires goodly amounts of funding. 220 millions worth it would appear.
The Council's existence has rightly been drawn into question for all sorts of reasons. It is an unnecessary level of administration, it has been a vehicle for handing out jobs to the boys and girls and for having engaged in some highly suspect expenditure, and has also managed to fritter away money that it was meant to have spent on those responsibilities that it should have been attending to. You might remember the 100 million that was earmarked for road building which was said to have gone elsewhere.
For all this though, the Council is only a relatively small part of the total public administration. It was the case not so long ago that it accounted for only 5% of the total number of public employees. Even without the Council, funding would still be required. Moving the chairs around and handing responsibilities to a different public body would save only so much.
The Council, however, has come to be seen as symptomatic of waste and of excessive administration. And this isn't only in Mallorca. In Ibiza the population is 132,000. There is a Council of Ibiza plus five municipalities. It is a legitimate question to ask why there is a need for a council when four of these municipalities are of sufficient size (over 20,000) to have taken on the types of responsibilities that towns of over 20,000 are obliged to take on. Another way of looking at it is to ask why there is a need for the five municipalities.
The laudable aims of decentralisation which led to the establishment of the islands' councils have fallen into disrepute because of the way that public administration in the Balearics has managed to follow Parkinson's Law pretty much to the letter. "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" was the original law, but what Parkinson was driving at specifically was the capacity for bureaucracies to expand over time. The more levels of bureaucracy, the more Parkinson's Law is compounded.
Salom was of course right to describe the Council as inefficient, but the solution to the inefficiency demands a more radical approach than the elimination of certain functions. It requires an overhaul of public administration in its totality. I don't know that she is angry. She should be happy to have made the first move in effecting this overhaul.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The president of the Council of Mallorca is unhappy because the regional government - her mates in the Partido Popular therefore - are not parting with cash and handing it over in order to fill the Council's piggy bank. Short of some 220 million euros, Salom says that there will be no alternative but to pass responsibilities that the Council has to the government.
I don't buy the anger thing. It sounds as though Maria is paving the way for doing what an awful lot of people have been saying should have happened ages ago, i.e. letting the government take on responsibilities. The logical conclusion of letting it do so would be to wave goodbye to the Council. So long and good riddance.
As president, Maria has to be seen to be defending the Council, if only for political consumption that is devoured by a minority of the island's population. She can't actually come out and say that it would be preferable if the government were to assume responsibilities, as this would leave her open to accusations that she had been deliberately working towards this aim. But she can profess anger and at the same time still demonstrate her credentials in having been able to lop off some of the Council's huge debt.
Salom has managed to eat into this debt, and boy did it need eating into. In August last year it was said to stand at 329 million euros. This, to put it into perspective, was only 26 million euros short of what the Balearic Government has now requested in the form of rescue payment from Madrid. To say that the debt was massive would be an understatement.
Before she was elected as Council president in May last year, Salom had gone on record as saying that she intended eliminating functions that the Council had managed somehow to accumulate. She described the Council as an expensive and inefficient behemoth, a description it was impossible to disagree with. Some of these accumulated functions have been dispensed with, such as the Council's own tourism set-up, but the Council still requires goodly amounts of funding. 220 millions worth it would appear.
The Council's existence has rightly been drawn into question for all sorts of reasons. It is an unnecessary level of administration, it has been a vehicle for handing out jobs to the boys and girls and for having engaged in some highly suspect expenditure, and has also managed to fritter away money that it was meant to have spent on those responsibilities that it should have been attending to. You might remember the 100 million that was earmarked for road building which was said to have gone elsewhere.
For all this though, the Council is only a relatively small part of the total public administration. It was the case not so long ago that it accounted for only 5% of the total number of public employees. Even without the Council, funding would still be required. Moving the chairs around and handing responsibilities to a different public body would save only so much.
The Council, however, has come to be seen as symptomatic of waste and of excessive administration. And this isn't only in Mallorca. In Ibiza the population is 132,000. There is a Council of Ibiza plus five municipalities. It is a legitimate question to ask why there is a need for a council when four of these municipalities are of sufficient size (over 20,000) to have taken on the types of responsibilities that towns of over 20,000 are obliged to take on. Another way of looking at it is to ask why there is a need for the five municipalities.
The laudable aims of decentralisation which led to the establishment of the islands' councils have fallen into disrepute because of the way that public administration in the Balearics has managed to follow Parkinson's Law pretty much to the letter. "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion" was the original law, but what Parkinson was driving at specifically was the capacity for bureaucracies to expand over time. The more levels of bureaucracy, the more Parkinson's Law is compounded.
Salom was of course right to describe the Council as inefficient, but the solution to the inefficiency demands a more radical approach than the elimination of certain functions. It requires an overhaul of public administration in its totality. I don't know that she is angry. She should be happy to have made the first move in effecting this overhaul.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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.)
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