At The Diner On The Corner

The Mostra de Cuina Mallorquina has been pronounced a success, says a report from "The Diario". This is the Mostra Cuina de Mallorquina that, on its northern "route", could count on just one restaurant in the whole of Pollensa. This year's format may not be repeated; a return to an exhibition-centre approach is on the cards. Restaurant owners are quoted as being delighted with the response, though not all. In smaller towns, there has been particular delight; the Mostra has been a way of spreading the names of restaurants. In Alcúdia, the Mirador reported that nine people from Valencia had come. Here was evidence of the attraction of the Mostra beyond the shores of the island.

If the event has done some good and does some permanent good, then it should be heralded a success. However, the success probably has as much to do with offering meals at low prices as anything else. For a maximum of twelve euros, the chances are that restaurants, which might otherwise not have got the custom, have done so. The real success of the event lies in whether the punters will go back when there is no special offer available. I wonder if the people from Valencia will be returning shortly. Perhaps they just happened to be in the area, heard about the offer and thought, well, let's try it.

Though repeat business is, or should be, the main objective of participating restaurants, the event proves, as if any evidence were really needed, that price - a low price - is a major incentive. If only that price were sustainable. But what of the event in a wider tourism context? We hear, repeatedly, that gastronomy is one of Mallorca's alternative tourism attractions. So, was the Mostra promoted to a tourism market? And if it was, did it bring a whole load of tourists in? I suspect the answers are no and no. The format of having restaurants in zones of the island would have been tailor-made for a gastronomy package. But one comes back to that notion of repeat business. A restaurant invests in producing special menus and making them available at prices lower than normal. If the volume is sufficient, then it will have worked in offsetting the per-head lower takings. However, it would, where the tourist is concerned, have been an investment with little expectation of repeat business; it would not have generated some longer-term customer worth. In which case, why bother?

One can't help the impression that, for all the words about tourism this and tourism that of an alternative style, there is precious little that is really done to activate it. Coincidental with the Mostra, and despite there having been not one restaurant in the town of Pollensa taking part, this was also the weekend of the Pollensa wine fair. Wine goes alongside gastronomy. There is, or would have been some synergy in promoting these together - to an external market. Was there? Maybe some small specialist tour operators did so, in which case good luck to them. But I'm not aware of the tourism authorities making a big noise.

So much seems to happen that would have a wider tourism interest, but so little is done to exploit it. One can't help another impression - that many of these island events are really just about the island. But then, if they don't bring in repeat custom, why bother? That may well be the attitude, but it is wrong. And it's wrong for the simple reason that Mallorca can do with whatever tourism it can bring in - even if it means, Heaven forbid, letting those tourists eat a meal on the cheap.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The progenitors of Fleet Foxes (IMHO), America: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0KKGdb4qUY). Today's title - only vaguely related I know, but a line from a great song. Who? Clue is in "diner".

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