In celebrating twenty years of existence, the travel magazine "Hosteltur" has identified twenty words or terms which have defined tourism since 1994. These are terms which are applicable to tourism generally, so I have narrowed the parameters and considered themes which have been of fundamental importance to Mallorca since 1994.
1. All-inclusive. The origins of the all-inclusive can be argued about. They are normally attributed to Club Med and their expansion to complexes such as Sandals. While Club Med had been around on Mallorca since the 1950s, it hadn't been a significant player, and the all-inclusive, as we now know it, didn't become a feature of the tourism landscape until roughly twenty years ago, and even then it was limited largely to the north and east of the island. We all know about its diffusion since then and the extent to which it has disrupted the previously harmonious balance between hotel and complementary sectors.
2. Beach zoning. On 4 March 1994 the Balearic Government issued a decree which established criteria for what could happen and what couldn't happen on beaches and on which parts. Different zones were created, some of which had limits set as to space which could be used. Why does this make the list? Firstly, because there hadn't previously been such a system and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it was a form of standardisation which removed improvisation and arguably also removed some of the fun that had been had on beaches.
3. Crisis. Mallorca has experienced previous economic hard times - the oil crisis in the 1970s and the recession of the early 1990s - but the crisis (still with us but not as bad as it had been) shook tourism in different ways, such as by cutting credit and making even more popular the cost appeal of the all-inclusive holiday.
4. EasyJet. It may seem remarkable that easyJet isn't even twenty years old yet: it was founded in 1995. By 1998 the airline was flying daily from Luton to Palma as part of its summer schedule (late March to late October). EasyJet and the other low-cost airlines were to be significant in increasing passenger traffic through Son Sant Joan and in putting an impetus behind independent travel to the detriment of the package holiday.
5. Euro. 1 January 1999 was when it happened; when suddenly everything in Mallorca became that much more expensive. This is the commonly held view, and one that has some justification. It removed the inconvenience of changing currency, but only for those tourists from countries which adopted it.
6. Internet. In 1994 the internet was still an unproven concept and was far from being in everyday use. How things have changed. The web has not just been a fundamental change, it has been a revolution. Tourism has been turned on its head. Bookings, information, recommendations ..., it gave the tourist-consumer a power he previously hadn't possessed.
7. Ley General Turística. 24 March 1999 was the day when the Balearics' first tourism law was approved. The more recent 2012 tourism law reinforced much of what was in this first law, including prohibitions on some types of private property as holiday accommodation. One of the mysteries that surrounds the holiday-lets argument is quite why anyone finds it a comparatively new argument. It has certainly existed since 1999, though in fact there was a law as long ago as 1984 which tackled the subject - the "ley sobre alojamientos extrahoteleros".
8. POOT. The Plan de la Oferta Turística de Mallorca was approved by decree on 6 April 1995. It was a plan that was of profound importance. Though there had been previous plans which sought to organise how land was used for tourism purposes, the POOT was the first time that hard-and-fast criteria had been adopted. Essentially what POOT does is to place limits on the amount of tourism development within municipal boundaries.
9. Secondary activities. This is the newest of the fundamental changes. Part of the 2012 tourism law, secondary activities allow hotels to offer activities to the general public (and so not just guests) which had previously been the domain of the non-hotel, complementary sector. They can include all manner of things - restaurants, shops, clubs, concerts to name but a few. It is early days but secondary activities are likely to disrupt even further the balance between the hotel and complementary sectors.
10. Sustainability. An at-times nebulous concept and one that seems more often to be used for marketing purposes than for practical ones, sustainability is supposed to strike a balance between the demands of tourism and those of the environment, resources and the local economy. One of the first conferences dedicated to the subject was held in 1995.
Space has permitted only ten themes. There are others, and perhaps you have your own suggestions as to ways in which Mallorca's tourism has been changed over the last 20 years.
Showing posts with label EasyJet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EasyJet. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2014
Monday, February 14, 2011
Taking The Flak: Airlines and winter flights
A canard can mean different things. It is a misleading story or it is an added-stability surface on an aircraft. It is also, in French, a duck. Get ready to duck, everyone; the flak being fired at aircraft and airlines is flying.
The story of flights to Mallorca during the winter is not a canard. There may be more of a plot to the story than the simple "tourist authorities must do something" narrative, but it is not essentially misleading. Hence the rumblings of discontent expressed in "The Bulletin", as opposed to the rumblings of engines as aircraft land in Palma; rumblings coming, in particular, from all points northwards in the UK.
The assertion that "there are plenty of winter connections to Faro, Alicante and Malaga" (from Scotland) is not wrong. Nor is the suggestion that Palma is badly served. Take, for example, easyJet and Ryanair. Over a period from 15 to 26 February, there are, from Glasgow, six easyJet flights to Faro and four with Ryanair. For Alicante, seven easyJet connections, five Ryanair. Malaga? Nine and five respectively. The picture is rather different, when it comes to Palma. The number of flights is zero and zero.
These are just two airlines from one city, so the story is not complete, but you can get a flavour of the story by looking at these numbers.
It is hard to compare like with like, but let's just consider what happens with flights from Germany. Take a city such as Nuremberg, a fair-sized place but smaller by about 60,000 people than Glasgow. Air Berlin, over the same February period, is flying from Nuremberg 18 times to Faro, 17 times to Alicante, 31 times to Malaga and 23 times to Palma.
I make this, therefore, 23 more flights over a twelve-day stretch than from a larger UK city. Moreover, Air Berlin's flights to Palma cost way more than do those of easyJet and Ryanair to the three Iberian destinations: 250 euros one way is about its Palma average. EasyJet's basic charge across the three averages out at 85 euros; Ryanair's at 49 euros.
Notwithstanding differences in airline markets in the two countries, the comparison is stark. It is that stark that you are entitled to ask what the hell's going on. You could put it down to stronger business links between Germany and Mallorca and to there being a larger German presence on the island than that from the UK. But the greater German population, roughly double the size of the British, is still not 23 flights worth greater. And these are Air Berlin flights from only one airport; it flies from many others with similar regularity through the winter.
The example of Air Berlin and its Nuremberg flights has to be treated with one caveat, and that is that, apart from a hugely expensive and circuitous trip to Palma with Lufthansa, it has sown up this connection. Which probably explains its prices. Nevertheless, it still manages, if you believe the availability information on its website, to more or less fill these flights. But the sowing-up of the route is itself instructive. Air Berlin's relationship with Mallorca goes way beyond its flights. Its director in Spain and Portugal is the former president of Mallorca's tourism board. The island and the airline are pretty much joined at the hip. Contrast this amicable arrangement with, for example, Ryanair's often frosty relationship with both the Spanish and Balearic governments.
If you go back to the easyJet and Ryanair flights to the peninsula, why are they going there and not to Palma? Much of the explanation has to do with population. In the Alicante province, the official number of UK residents is 127,561. In Mallorca, it is in the region of 16,000. In Malaga province, the number is 40,700. Only in the Algarve is the official figure lower than in Mallorca. So why the flights to Faro? Maybe they're all to do with golf. Mallorca may want a winter golfing tourist, but it does not have the Algarve's reputation for winter golf.
In terms of tourism, Malaga serves not only the Costa del Sol. There are also the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and the ski resort. In Alicante, where the winter climate is much like Mallorca's, there are concerns that the Costa Blanca is losing its winter trade. Yet in the province as a whole (50% or so larger than the area of Mallorca), 392 hotels have been open this winter. Mallorca doesn't come close.
Despite Alicante's UK population and more of a winter tourism tradition, compare Air Berlin's Nuremberg flights and easyJet and Ryanair's combined Glasgow flights. There are five more Air Berlin flights. But what is the German population in Alicante? Nothing like that of the British. Just short of 30% of the size at 36,000.
All of this leads one to conclude that both in Mallorca and on the peninsula, Air Berlin is either out of step with other airlines or that it has been highly proactive in forging markets. Its traffic to Mallorca cannot solely be explained by business travellers or property owners. So there have to be tourists, and German tourists face the same issues as to hotels, restaurants and attractions not being open and face the same weather as their British counterparts.
One reason why Air Berlin is able to generate business is that cycling tourism from Germany is so popular. But it has become popular because of the tripartite efforts of tour operators, airline and tourism officials, co-operation that is vital. The airline may well enjoy more than just amicable relationships with the regional government (and other governments), but whatever agreements it has, something is working - to everyone's benefit.
The story of the lack of flights to Palma from Scotland, and indeed other parts of the UK, is not a canard. But the story is never quite as black and white as it might seem and never as simple as just blaming tourism authorities for inertia. However, the experiences of Air Berlin suggest that greater opportunities for British airlines exist than might be realised. This said, if British airlines started charging the prices Air Berlin does, then just wait for the flak to start flying.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The story of flights to Mallorca during the winter is not a canard. There may be more of a plot to the story than the simple "tourist authorities must do something" narrative, but it is not essentially misleading. Hence the rumblings of discontent expressed in "The Bulletin", as opposed to the rumblings of engines as aircraft land in Palma; rumblings coming, in particular, from all points northwards in the UK.
The assertion that "there are plenty of winter connections to Faro, Alicante and Malaga" (from Scotland) is not wrong. Nor is the suggestion that Palma is badly served. Take, for example, easyJet and Ryanair. Over a period from 15 to 26 February, there are, from Glasgow, six easyJet flights to Faro and four with Ryanair. For Alicante, seven easyJet connections, five Ryanair. Malaga? Nine and five respectively. The picture is rather different, when it comes to Palma. The number of flights is zero and zero.
These are just two airlines from one city, so the story is not complete, but you can get a flavour of the story by looking at these numbers.
It is hard to compare like with like, but let's just consider what happens with flights from Germany. Take a city such as Nuremberg, a fair-sized place but smaller by about 60,000 people than Glasgow. Air Berlin, over the same February period, is flying from Nuremberg 18 times to Faro, 17 times to Alicante, 31 times to Malaga and 23 times to Palma.
I make this, therefore, 23 more flights over a twelve-day stretch than from a larger UK city. Moreover, Air Berlin's flights to Palma cost way more than do those of easyJet and Ryanair to the three Iberian destinations: 250 euros one way is about its Palma average. EasyJet's basic charge across the three averages out at 85 euros; Ryanair's at 49 euros.
Notwithstanding differences in airline markets in the two countries, the comparison is stark. It is that stark that you are entitled to ask what the hell's going on. You could put it down to stronger business links between Germany and Mallorca and to there being a larger German presence on the island than that from the UK. But the greater German population, roughly double the size of the British, is still not 23 flights worth greater. And these are Air Berlin flights from only one airport; it flies from many others with similar regularity through the winter.
The example of Air Berlin and its Nuremberg flights has to be treated with one caveat, and that is that, apart from a hugely expensive and circuitous trip to Palma with Lufthansa, it has sown up this connection. Which probably explains its prices. Nevertheless, it still manages, if you believe the availability information on its website, to more or less fill these flights. But the sowing-up of the route is itself instructive. Air Berlin's relationship with Mallorca goes way beyond its flights. Its director in Spain and Portugal is the former president of Mallorca's tourism board. The island and the airline are pretty much joined at the hip. Contrast this amicable arrangement with, for example, Ryanair's often frosty relationship with both the Spanish and Balearic governments.
If you go back to the easyJet and Ryanair flights to the peninsula, why are they going there and not to Palma? Much of the explanation has to do with population. In the Alicante province, the official number of UK residents is 127,561. In Mallorca, it is in the region of 16,000. In Malaga province, the number is 40,700. Only in the Algarve is the official figure lower than in Mallorca. So why the flights to Faro? Maybe they're all to do with golf. Mallorca may want a winter golfing tourist, but it does not have the Algarve's reputation for winter golf.
In terms of tourism, Malaga serves not only the Costa del Sol. There are also the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and the ski resort. In Alicante, where the winter climate is much like Mallorca's, there are concerns that the Costa Blanca is losing its winter trade. Yet in the province as a whole (50% or so larger than the area of Mallorca), 392 hotels have been open this winter. Mallorca doesn't come close.
Despite Alicante's UK population and more of a winter tourism tradition, compare Air Berlin's Nuremberg flights and easyJet and Ryanair's combined Glasgow flights. There are five more Air Berlin flights. But what is the German population in Alicante? Nothing like that of the British. Just short of 30% of the size at 36,000.
All of this leads one to conclude that both in Mallorca and on the peninsula, Air Berlin is either out of step with other airlines or that it has been highly proactive in forging markets. Its traffic to Mallorca cannot solely be explained by business travellers or property owners. So there have to be tourists, and German tourists face the same issues as to hotels, restaurants and attractions not being open and face the same weather as their British counterparts.
One reason why Air Berlin is able to generate business is that cycling tourism from Germany is so popular. But it has become popular because of the tripartite efforts of tour operators, airline and tourism officials, co-operation that is vital. The airline may well enjoy more than just amicable relationships with the regional government (and other governments), but whatever agreements it has, something is working - to everyone's benefit.
The story of the lack of flights to Palma from Scotland, and indeed other parts of the UK, is not a canard. But the story is never quite as black and white as it might seem and never as simple as just blaming tourism authorities for inertia. However, the experiences of Air Berlin suggest that greater opportunities for British airlines exist than might be realised. This said, if British airlines started charging the prices Air Berlin does, then just wait for the flak to start flying.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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