One does have to be careful with anecdotal evidence. There's plenty of it around. It is of the things-are-so-quiet variety; the never-known-it-like-this sort (in a negative way).
The season is drawing towards its official close. Over the past few weeks, from September onwards there has been this evidence. But it can depend. Let me supply my own contrary evidence. In Alcudia on Tuesday last week I observed how busy things were. It was hard to remember there having been so many coaches this late in the season. There was agreement, one response having to do with the ongoing problem of parking: there were just so many cars around.
A day or so later there was a post on Facebook. It came from a bar. Other bar owners chipped in. They couldn't recall a busier October. These weren't "newbie" bar owners. They've been in Alcudia for years. They've known the very best and the very worst of times. Moreover, they are bars in the main tourism centre, where all-inclusive dominates. What was going on, someone asked. Something must be right for there to be this many people, for business to be as brisk in mid to late October.
A further piece of evidence was at Bellevue, the giant complex of economy-class, overwhelmingly but not exclusively all-inclusive offer. With the capacity for up to 5,000 guests, it isn't necessary to keep all the seventeen blocks open as the season winds down. Yet they only started closing them a week or so back. They would normally have been closed earlier. The solitary bar that serves the outlying part of Bellevue, which is shut down before any other parts, only closed a few days ago. It was a long season for the bar. Uncommonly so.
Two weeks ago there was a report with a headline which referred to a bad end to the season. Evidence was supplied by the Mallorca restaurants association and by one of the associations which represents smaller retailers. Of the two I'm more inclined to listen to the former. The retailers bleat so often that their words are lost amidst their constant complaints and their unwillingness to admit that there is oversupply of non-differentiated offer and fierce market dynamics of the internet and shopping malls. I've all but given up with them. The restaurants, on the other hand, are worthy of attention. Business from September onwards was down ten per cent.
Yet this same report said that in early season - March to May - there had been increases in turnover of up to ten per cent. How does one explain the apparent difference, as explained by these associations, with September and October? September, in particular, is a month always anticipated by businesses. The tourist profile changes from the predominantly family one of August, which isn't typically a high-spending segment. As far as the associations are concerned, the main reason was the lack of tourist spending power. Are tourists in September and October that different to those in April and May that they can mean a yo-yo of up ten and down ten per cent? Generally speaking, they are not.
Lower tourist spending has become the accepted excuse for when things aren't as good as might be hoped. This lower spending can be related to all-inclusive or not. But something happened between spring and autumn which may offer more light on the swing in spending - the holiday rentals' legislation.
One again relies on mostly anecdotal evidence, but there is plenty which suggests that the legislation has had a dramatic impact. With apartments being pulled from the market, it would seem that a good deal of business has dried up, or at least this is the impression formed in those areas with a high reliance on rentals, such as Puerto Pollensa and even Palma.
It is useful to note that Alcudia ranks only three places below Pollensa in a national analysis of the proliferation of holiday rentals per head of population. Alcudia has the fourth highest level in the whole of Spain. But on the basis of what one sees and hears (and even now, closer to the end of the month, things still seem unusually busy), Alcudia is doing well where Pollensa is not.
The number of hotel places is markedly different, yet so many of these places are all-inclusive. So, what gives? Once more, it may well all depend, and much will depend on the sheer level of demand. Where hotel occupancy remains comparatively high right up to the end of the season, general business is ok, regardless of all-inclusive. The other part of the equation must be holiday rentals, and one really does begin to wonder what effect there will be next year. There was a mid-season shock in the form of the legislation. Will that shock persist next year and right through the season?
Showing posts with label All-inclusive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All-inclusive. Show all posts
Friday, October 27, 2017
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Season 2015: What did we learn?
Resorts can be changed
The naysayers said it couldn't and wouldn't be done. These were naysayers whose beliefs were clouded by self-interest and an inability to see beyond the status quo. A resort, its image, its offer is for all time. Long live the old resort! The naysayers operated, however, from a manual that does not exist. There is no rule which says that a resort has to remain the same. No rule which says that it should have been as it was in the first place. Magalluf changed.
There is still more to be done
But before we get carried away, and one suspects that too many have, we can't overlook what hasn't changed. The glowing tributes for Magalluf's makeover constantly fail to address the cancerous continuance of the mugger-prostitutes. One thing that was learned was that police operations can make a difference. They did so in Playa de Palma, where the National Police broke up a human-trafficking gang and arrested some thirty individuals. A judge issued restraining orders, some women were taken into care, others were detained. The keys to this were police observation and also, crucially, reports by victims. More than anything, this was a lesson that goes beyond the scope of local police forces. It is an international criminal matter, and one for which the National Police and Guardia Civil should be given all resources possible in working with other police forces and agencies to eliminate. A mantra for Magalluf and Mallorca that politicians and the tourism industry chant is that it is a safe destination. Indeed it is, but it could be safer still.
The end of youth tourism?
We became confused by what this meant. The drunken, loutish element was seemingly being shown the door, and this was heralded as a success. Yet why should there not be youth tourism? It frequently has good levels of disposable income. The question became and now is, what type of youth? Perhaps BH Mallorca - and further developments in Magalluf to come next year - point the way, but not everyone is convinced that this represents such a dramatic shift towards a - might one say - more mature youth market.
Elsewhere, meanwhile, there was the problem of the spring-breakers from different countries but not least from the Spanish mainland. This is a youth tourism that is having potentially disastrous consequences in resorts already dominated by all-inclusive where the season is now compacted into three months. Spring breaks of two to three weeks strip away much of what business there might otherwise be. This might not seem a long period, but where the season is so short, then it most definitely is.
Did someone say all-inclusive?
The strength of the pound, the upgrading of hotels were contributing to a lowering of the all-inclusive offer, or so it was said. Yet all-inclusive was being spoken of as never before, partly because - praise be - politicians had woken from a twenty-year-plus slumber and cottoned onto its existence. The change in government brought with it an apparent determination to regulate, and the administration was provided with a cause into which it could sink its teeth: self-service alcohol. This was bizarre, and it demonstrated how out of touch the political class appears to have been. All that was happening was that the means of delivering alcohol was changing, not the principle of as much alcohol as one holidaymaker can stomach. But it did at least hint at tighter control over what is allowable as part of the all-inclusive offer. Regulation should follow in the not too distant future, but it has to be matched with far tighter inspection. There was a lesson from a different source - the campaign against fraudulent work contracts. Deemed a success, it was because of the additional inspectors specially brought in from the mainland. Regulation is meaningless unless there is the inspection capability to enforce it.
Overcrowded Mallorca
Other regulation was in the air, that of private accommodation, but the emphasis shifted this summer. It was no longer a case of whether to permit the commercialisation of private apartments or of how to enable this, but of the sheer availability. The previous government had sat on its hands and flatly refused to consider any meaningful regulation, and this summer highlighted the absence of such regulation. The massive growth in rental accommodation via the internet was identified as the principal reason why the island reached saturation point. But whatever regulation there might eventually be, without the resources to control it, it will prove as toothless as any for all-inclusive standards.
A record-breaking season it proved to be (for some at any rate), but there was no disguising some reasons why - instability elsewhere most notably. The chief lesson was that, for any advances made, they are inextricably linked to the ups and downs of the competition.
The naysayers said it couldn't and wouldn't be done. These were naysayers whose beliefs were clouded by self-interest and an inability to see beyond the status quo. A resort, its image, its offer is for all time. Long live the old resort! The naysayers operated, however, from a manual that does not exist. There is no rule which says that a resort has to remain the same. No rule which says that it should have been as it was in the first place. Magalluf changed.
There is still more to be done
But before we get carried away, and one suspects that too many have, we can't overlook what hasn't changed. The glowing tributes for Magalluf's makeover constantly fail to address the cancerous continuance of the mugger-prostitutes. One thing that was learned was that police operations can make a difference. They did so in Playa de Palma, where the National Police broke up a human-trafficking gang and arrested some thirty individuals. A judge issued restraining orders, some women were taken into care, others were detained. The keys to this were police observation and also, crucially, reports by victims. More than anything, this was a lesson that goes beyond the scope of local police forces. It is an international criminal matter, and one for which the National Police and Guardia Civil should be given all resources possible in working with other police forces and agencies to eliminate. A mantra for Magalluf and Mallorca that politicians and the tourism industry chant is that it is a safe destination. Indeed it is, but it could be safer still.
The end of youth tourism?
We became confused by what this meant. The drunken, loutish element was seemingly being shown the door, and this was heralded as a success. Yet why should there not be youth tourism? It frequently has good levels of disposable income. The question became and now is, what type of youth? Perhaps BH Mallorca - and further developments in Magalluf to come next year - point the way, but not everyone is convinced that this represents such a dramatic shift towards a - might one say - more mature youth market.
Elsewhere, meanwhile, there was the problem of the spring-breakers from different countries but not least from the Spanish mainland. This is a youth tourism that is having potentially disastrous consequences in resorts already dominated by all-inclusive where the season is now compacted into three months. Spring breaks of two to three weeks strip away much of what business there might otherwise be. This might not seem a long period, but where the season is so short, then it most definitely is.
Did someone say all-inclusive?
The strength of the pound, the upgrading of hotels were contributing to a lowering of the all-inclusive offer, or so it was said. Yet all-inclusive was being spoken of as never before, partly because - praise be - politicians had woken from a twenty-year-plus slumber and cottoned onto its existence. The change in government brought with it an apparent determination to regulate, and the administration was provided with a cause into which it could sink its teeth: self-service alcohol. This was bizarre, and it demonstrated how out of touch the political class appears to have been. All that was happening was that the means of delivering alcohol was changing, not the principle of as much alcohol as one holidaymaker can stomach. But it did at least hint at tighter control over what is allowable as part of the all-inclusive offer. Regulation should follow in the not too distant future, but it has to be matched with far tighter inspection. There was a lesson from a different source - the campaign against fraudulent work contracts. Deemed a success, it was because of the additional inspectors specially brought in from the mainland. Regulation is meaningless unless there is the inspection capability to enforce it.
Overcrowded Mallorca
Other regulation was in the air, that of private accommodation, but the emphasis shifted this summer. It was no longer a case of whether to permit the commercialisation of private apartments or of how to enable this, but of the sheer availability. The previous government had sat on its hands and flatly refused to consider any meaningful regulation, and this summer highlighted the absence of such regulation. The massive growth in rental accommodation via the internet was identified as the principal reason why the island reached saturation point. But whatever regulation there might eventually be, without the resources to control it, it will prove as toothless as any for all-inclusive standards.
A record-breaking season it proved to be (for some at any rate), but there was no disguising some reasons why - instability elsewhere most notably. The chief lesson was that, for any advances made, they are inextricably linked to the ups and downs of the competition.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Under-Cooked: Tour operators' profits down
The tour operators are facing significant drops in their profits, Thomas Cook issuing a profits' warning. The reasons are not too difficult to work out. Like all other parties in the tourism industry this year, the tour operators have not been immune to economic pressures and the totally unexpected. The good news in all this is that there are some remarkable bargains to be had, "The Guardian" reporting yesterday that anything up to 60% off can be expected once the school holidays are over, while 40% off this month can be obtained. The less good news is destinations that are on offer, the Balearics heading the list.
With TUI, Thomas Cook and others suffering falls in profit, a question that has to be asked is what this might mean for next season. There was some indication that tour operators' prices had risen this year in the expectation of a better year, one that has failed to materialise. Price rises in 2011 might be on the cards, but they would be folly, especially for some destinations, including Mallorca and the Balearics.
The island's hoteliers have come to the end of their contract arrangements for next year: they can expect no or only a one per cent increase in their own prices. One per cent is the maximum that the tour operators will give them. Yet, you have a situation in which certain hotel associations, such as the Alcúdia-Can Picafort one, are saying that up to 30% of places have been left unsold in July and August this year; some hotels have reported far worse.
But go further behind all this, and one finds a rather mysterious situation, or one that is being alleged by hotels in Puerto Pollensa. Against the background of a potential rise in all-inclusive there, hotels have accused the tour operators of not selling holidays to Pollensa, the operators claiming that hotels are sold out, when they are not. The hotels also reckon that the tour operators have been diverting clients, who would have booked in Puerto Pollensa, to hotels elsewhere.
Without knowing the precise nature of the contractual agreements tour operators might have with different hotels in different resorts, it is hard to comment on this. If what the Puerto Pollensa hotels allege is true, and they say it is, albeit that "sources" preferred to maintain anonymity when this was reported on a few days ago in "The Diario", might this be interpreted as a bit of pressure to conform with a tour operator desire to change the status of offers at certain hotels - to all-inclusive, in other words?
In the same Guardian article, a spokesperson for travelsupermarket.com says that there will be a "bloodbath" of last-minute deals in September and October. If the tour operators are going to get so badly burned this year, might we be facing a different sort of bloodbath, that of hotels not being contracted with? It is already the case that individual hotels are making pre-emptive strikes, effectively removing themselves from under the tour operators umbrellas and going for independent, direct bookings in a far more aggressive fashion than has been the case until now. It may be that others have to do likewise. What they can expect as revenue from the tour operators will not increase in real terms; indeed it is down this year in many instances. And to what extent will they be willing to take the tour operator shilling in return for offering something - all-inclusive - that many are loathe to?
2011 is going to be a lively year. It could also be make or break for many hotels, assuming they are not already broken.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
With TUI, Thomas Cook and others suffering falls in profit, a question that has to be asked is what this might mean for next season. There was some indication that tour operators' prices had risen this year in the expectation of a better year, one that has failed to materialise. Price rises in 2011 might be on the cards, but they would be folly, especially for some destinations, including Mallorca and the Balearics.
The island's hoteliers have come to the end of their contract arrangements for next year: they can expect no or only a one per cent increase in their own prices. One per cent is the maximum that the tour operators will give them. Yet, you have a situation in which certain hotel associations, such as the Alcúdia-Can Picafort one, are saying that up to 30% of places have been left unsold in July and August this year; some hotels have reported far worse.
But go further behind all this, and one finds a rather mysterious situation, or one that is being alleged by hotels in Puerto Pollensa. Against the background of a potential rise in all-inclusive there, hotels have accused the tour operators of not selling holidays to Pollensa, the operators claiming that hotels are sold out, when they are not. The hotels also reckon that the tour operators have been diverting clients, who would have booked in Puerto Pollensa, to hotels elsewhere.
Without knowing the precise nature of the contractual agreements tour operators might have with different hotels in different resorts, it is hard to comment on this. If what the Puerto Pollensa hotels allege is true, and they say it is, albeit that "sources" preferred to maintain anonymity when this was reported on a few days ago in "The Diario", might this be interpreted as a bit of pressure to conform with a tour operator desire to change the status of offers at certain hotels - to all-inclusive, in other words?
In the same Guardian article, a spokesperson for travelsupermarket.com says that there will be a "bloodbath" of last-minute deals in September and October. If the tour operators are going to get so badly burned this year, might we be facing a different sort of bloodbath, that of hotels not being contracted with? It is already the case that individual hotels are making pre-emptive strikes, effectively removing themselves from under the tour operators umbrellas and going for independent, direct bookings in a far more aggressive fashion than has been the case until now. It may be that others have to do likewise. What they can expect as revenue from the tour operators will not increase in real terms; indeed it is down this year in many instances. And to what extent will they be willing to take the tour operator shilling in return for offering something - all-inclusive - that many are loathe to?
2011 is going to be a lively year. It could also be make or break for many hotels, assuming they are not already broken.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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