Down, Down, Deeper And Down

It seems that barely a day cannot pass without some report or other stating that sales are well down. There was that one not so long ago that spoke about turnover in souvenir and jewellery stores being down some 60%. Then there are the bars and restaurants ... Across the board, according to the restaurant associations of two business groupings, there has been a 20% fall; in the tourist areas it is greater. The summer's difficulties have led, in some instances, to a shortening of opening hours and even to some places not opening at all. Two resorts that have been notable for this are Alcúdia and Can Picafort, says a spokesperson for the PIMEM association.

Anecdote is not always reliable, but there is plenty of it knocking around to back up the figures, and not just in Alcúdia or Can Pic. One restaurant in the old town of Pollensa spoke of 30%; that's a number I've been given elsewhere. Off The Mile in Alcúdia there is another restaurant which cites - in effect - a 50% decline. Yet there are always exceptions. In Puerto Pollensa one bar-owner was asked about how the "crisis" is affecting his bar. What crisis was the reply. This bar is enjoying increased sales. In Puerto Alcúdia one bar away from The Mile is at least holding its own against previous years. It benefits from the fact that people from The Mile are willing to tramp up to it as it has plenty of people in it. One thing the punter does not want is to sit in a bar on his or her own. When you have a mass of bars as you do along The Mile, the danger is that the punter is spread too thin. In the good times it is not an issue, but these are not good times.

There is a sense in which we are arriving at the tipping point. It is not as though there have not been previous periods of downturn; the early '90s was one such. You will hear the whistling to keep up spirits of a couple of years and it will all be back to where it was. I'm not so sure. The previous downturns did not have the proliferation of all-inclusives to contend with; in the early '90s the euro was still just a fantasy of politicians. One can add in factors such as greater restrictions on bars and ever higher costs.

It is not too soon to start looking ahead to 2009. If the pound remains weak against the euro, one does wonder as to the British holidaymaker. Ditto the problems with the credit crunch. The British tourist is of course just one from many nations. For some, such as the Scandinavians and the Irish, Mallorca can still represent pretty good value for money, but the British (and their spend) are vital. The fact also is that a lowering in spend was an observable trend before the current economic problems.

Something, you feel, is going to have to give.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum ... Today's title - who?


(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)