Tears For Souvenirs

A 60 per cent fall in turnover. This is a figure quoted yesterday in the "Diario" in respect of souvenir and jewellery stores. The source of the statistic was a spokesperson for the Partido Popular. One takes the figure at its face value, but, as always, statistics disguise a multitude of alternative stories. 60% is a hell of a decline though. It is true that some of these souvenir places sell a load of tat, so perhaps it's not completely surprising, while jewellery is probably something the purchase of which can be deferred for more plentiful times. However you wish to interpret the fall, it is, nevertheless, a real cause for concern.

The PP cites the problems at Spanair to suggest that the "crisis" is affecting sectors other than property and construction; the spokesperson points also to a fall of 15% turnover for restaurants. The party, in addition, has demanded that the Balearic Government provides data regarding all-inclusives. By implication, the PP is moving to a position of seeing them as the devil of the piece, which is a bit rich given their support in the past.

At some point the current malaise in Mallorca would switch its political attention to the Aunt Sallys, of which the all-inclusives are most obviously one. Maybe that time has come; the all-inclusives have been the target of ire for many businesses for some time but the politicians have preferred to keep their heads in the sands of the still heavily populated beaches. Personally, I see all-inclusives as just one factor, but to deny their impact on local businesses is to deny logic and common sense. One can argue, as I have, that the all-inclusives will cause a market correction in terms of over-supply of bars, souvenir shops etc, but such a market perspective is cold comfort to a bar-owner during a long, hot and slow summer. I have defended all-inclusives from the point of view of the family on a limited budget, and in the current economic climate they have much to commend them in this regard. But the outside-hotel spend is seriously restricted; of course it is. Just by how much might be gauged from an exchange I found on a forum. Someone, staying AI, was asking about spending money. 500 pounds for a fortnight was enough, it was reckoned. That's 500 pounds for a family of five! Everyone deserves a holiday, and the cheaper it is the better. But there is a point at which goodwill subsides. Why, some businesses may ask, should my island and my resort be the ones that are exploited by the cheap option of an all-inclusive while my business is by-passed by brigades branded by wristband? There are those who holiday at all-inclusives who, aware of their impact, bridle at the suggestion that they do not spend outside the hotel. But whatever spend they do make cannot and does not compensate for the overall loss.

The PP is right to ask for clear numbers. No one really knows. In the case of Alcúdia, there are certain hotels where the numbers are clear - the Macs, Lagomonte, that part of Bellevue that is AI - but there are others where it is not. I would hazard a guess that some 40% of Alcúdia's stock of hotel places are AI. In Can Picafort I dread to think. One supposes that they don't wish to make public the true figures for fear of the outcry. The AI takeover has been almost by stealth. In my part of Playa de Muro, the wristbands on the people on the beach tell it all; I don't remember seeing them with such regularity even a couple of years ago.

In times of crisis there is a search for a scapegoat. A political call for a restriction or more on all-inclusives would curry massive favour. It would probably be futile. There are doubtless mechanisms that could be deployed that could effect a restriction or ban, but there is always European law and restraint of trade clauses to say no, and the Spanish government is currently in the European naughty chair because of its flagrant breach of law in the case of the blocking of a foreign takeover of the energy company Endesa. Perhaps more importantly there is the clout of the tour operators. Some hotel chains, such as Iberostar, may well offer AI as an option, but it has been the tour operators, responding to consumer "demand", that have been the main instigators of all-inclusives; the very tour operators that have helped to create much of Mallorca's wealth. Antagonise them at your peril. With the tour operators it is a case of "ah made thee and ah can break thee".

A point once made to me was that the politicians were only too happy to see a growth in all-inclusives if this meant that the numbers coming into Palma airport were at healthy levels. The investment in the further development of the airport had to be justified in terms of traffic, and the press regularly publish figures as to that traffic. Similar levels as the previous year or an increase, and these indicate that the airport is doing well and that tourism is also doing well. It's camouflage. Economic conditions across Europe, combined with the market distortion created by all-inclusives, have finally caught up with Mallorca. Politicians and other authorities rarely plan for or contemplate bad-case scenarios. But now they have one, perhaps some are jumping ship and condemning practices that have added to the current problems. An apocalyptic vision for the island is overdoing it, but the day may yet arrive when the only souvenirs being taken back through the airport are replica wristbands.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Steely Dan, "Parker's Band" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnwRpIqBLaU). Today's title - who? Comedian-cum-crooner.

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