The Structure Of Tourism

Joan Mesquida is a name with which some of you will be familiar. He was national secretary-of-state for tourism from 2008 to 2011. Prior to this he was the director-general for the National Police and the Guardia Civil. He has a new task: director-general of "strategic projects" at Calvia town hall. Chief among these projects will be cleaning up the image of Magalluf.

If anyone is qualified for this mission nigh on impossible, Mesquida might well be the person. His ambitions to promote policies to improve the resort's image are ones for which he should receive the support of all. And if his one-time association with the two police bodies might assist in solving problems with the so-called prostitutes, then all the better.

He may not get wholehearted and unanimous support though. Not politically anyway. Hopes that he might trip up will be gleefully gloated over if he does. Mesquida is entering the danger zone of local tourism politics - one filled with traps and point-scoring. It has happened already. The new PSOE-led administration has already fallen foul of the sniping of the vanquished. Why hadn't it enforced new policies immediately? How long is immediate? Even the best intention for hitting the ground running takes time to effect, and it has been a bit rich for the PP, which hit the ground several times in falling flat on its face, to indulge in bitching. Sore losers? You bet.

Mesquida, the new mayor Alfonso Rodríguez and his partners in the coalition, do, despite the troubles that continue to afflict Magalluf, inherit a situation better than that which Manu Onieva took on in 2011. The improvements, though, owe precious little to the town hall, other than there being a template of ordinance. Rodríguez and his administration will be judged on how effectively this is enforced. Truly strategic elements of projects that Mesquida will undertake are still more likely to come from the vision of the private sector and not the council chamber.

But, and taking a broader view than simply dwelling - once again - on Magalluf, "strategic" should feature far more strongly than it does in the policies of local governments. Politicians might claim that this is the case but it rarely is and even where there is some evidence of joined-up strategy, it can be undermined because of political changes to administrations, just it can also be given insufficient importance in structures of these administrations. Calvia now has an assistant mayor with responsibilities for tourism, commerce and industry. Combining the three might make some sense, but even more sensible would be to have just one responsibility - tourism.

In Palma there is now the curious situation whereby tourism has in effect been relegated in the structure. From having had the council's number two, Alvaro Gijón, with the tourism portfolio, it is now wrapped up with commerce and employment and with a councillor who will not actually sit on the council's governing board. Mayor José Hila says that this will make no difference, but as Palma seeks to build on tourism gains that Gijón helped to bring about, one can only hope that he is right. Putting limits on boutique hotels is not an encouraging start.

The regional government, by contrast, looks as if it will be placing tourism where it should be: at the top of the structure. The fear of God may be put into some if indeed Biel Barceló combines the vice-presidency with tourism, but organisationally the move is a sensible one. But there is or should be more to it than drawing the organisation chart. Tourism isn't the be all and end all, but its importance is such - a contention I have made for some years - that it should be perceived in such a way that all other government activities support it. If decisions are to be made regarding health, environment, education, whatever, they should be made with an appreciation of how they impact tourism.

Not every municipality in Mallorca is dominated by tourism but all of them share a responsibility for it. In those municipalities where tourism does dominate - Calvia for example - then the town hall structure should reflect this. And had such a structure been established and engrained, there would now be far less need for Joan Mesquida and his "strategic projects". In business there is a maxim that structure should follow strategy and not the other way round. For too long, the structure has been allowed to rule and so strategically tourism has not been given the prominence it should have. And who knows, if this greater prominence had applied over the many years in Magalluf, there might be even less need for Mesquida to clean up the image. There would still be bitching between parties, but it would be strategic bitching and not tactical bitching, such as with the need for the tactical deployment of more police.