Mallorca: Big In Japan?

The first time I went to Haworth in West Yorkshire I discovered that signs were all in Japanese. The signs were of course there for Japanese tourists. Thousands of them flock to Haworth as it is at the heart of Brontë country. What I hadn't appreciated was that the Brontës are central to English teaching in Japan, hence students and others who came in search of Heathcliff or perhaps Kate Bush.

Mallorca doesn't have any Brontës. It doesn't have any historical literary greats or any that anyone outside of Mallorca will have ever heard of. Ramon Llull might just qualify, but an obscure thirteenth century novel ("Blanquerna") written in Catalan is not the stuff of promoting huge tourist interest, be the tourist Japanese or from any other country, while the plot - a hermit who becomes pope - doesn't have quite the same power as Catherine and Heathcliff's passion.

It's a pity that Mallorca doesn't have a few Brontës, Shakespeares or Dickens lurking in its past. Imagine what even one of them would do for winter tourism. In the absence of any giants from the world of literature, it really would help if they could get a move on and prove once and for all that Columbus was from Porto Colom, especially as the Ibizans are currently trying to steal the Columbus thunder. As Mallorca has, in addition to no literary figures of any great importance, no legends from history, it can't get the Japanese (or anyone else for that matter) flocking to the island in winter. (And please for God's sake don't mention Chopin.)

Despite the slight drawback of being unable to boast of any characters from the past who would be meaningful to an international traveller, Mallorca is nonetheless hopeful of attracting more Japanese tourists. And top of the list of reasons why the Japanese would come (possibly) are shoes. According to the Japanese ambassador to Spain, Mallorcan footwear is very popular in Japan. Which will doubtless be welcome news to Camper and other footwear manufacturers on the island. It might even prove to be a boost to Inca's footwear museum which, when last heard of, was a footwear museum without much by way of footwear.

"Very bright" is how the ambassador has described the island's footwear companies' future. But there is a slight snag. The shoes may be popular or even very popular, but once the Japanese have schlepped as far as Spain they tend to stick with the mainland cities. More promotion is needed to get the Japanese tourist to eschew Barcelona in favour of Palma and hopefully other parts of the island. Shoes, by themselves, are not enough.

There is, his excellency has added, plenty to attract his fellow countrymen and women. Culture, history, the landscapes. Which sounds all quite novel. I can't think that these have ever been highlighted as potential attractions to tourists from other countries. Like China, for example.

Chinese tourism to Spain apparently grew by 30% in the first quarter of this year, and it would seem that Chinese tour operators consider it their duty to support European tourist economies, which is mightily altruistic of them. This sudden spurt in Chinese tourism hasn't, however, meant a great deal to Mallorca. There certainly haven't been hordes of Chinese on the local beaches this summer, though as the Chinese, as we have previously been told, don't really go in for beach tourism, their absence from the beaches wouldn't have been that surprising. Maybe they were hiding themselves away in Palma Cathedral instead.

The Japanese, on the other hand, are apparently pretty keen on beach tourism, which would make them more of an all-round option as a developing tourism market. With their love of footwear, a whole new opportunity - for upmarket flip-flops - beckons.

Potential tourism from the Far East is very much flavour of the month. The South Korean ambassador was recently in Mallorca and he spoke with President Bauzá about the possibility of a delegation going to Korea to help strengthen tourist ties with the Balearics. One says strengthen, but as none of the 100,000 or so Korean tourists who come to Spain currently venture as far as Mallorca, it would be more a case of establishing tourist ties, though were a delegation to head off to Seoul, there would be an outcry about the expense.

But this is the sort of effort that needs to be made and needs to be paid for. It's all well and good talking about markets like Japan, China or Korea, but they need cultivating, and this takes time and money. If Mallorca is to ever be big in Japan, some big investment is going to be required.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.