Keep It Clean

Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Who coined this expression? John Wesley is probably the best bet even if the original is Hebrew. Doesn't really matter. The religious dimension doesn't feature in the running of a bar; well, not normally. But cleanliness does and should.

I recall that some years ago Honda made a point of cleanliness being at the centre of its overall quality management. The company still does make a point of it. Founder Soichiro Honda is quoted as saying that "superior products don't result from an attitude that allows disarray, untidiness and uncleanliness in the work environment". From this obsession with cleanliness comes an "attitude and environment that is productive and efficient, organised and reliable".

(Quotes from an article by Paul V. Arnold, "Case Study: The Honda Way", www.reliableplant.com)

Japanese manufacturing practices may seem a million miles away from the average local bar, but they do offer lessons nevertheless. In addition to an efficient production environment, Honda seeks to create a place of work that people enjoy and therefore makes them more content and more productive. Cleanliness is one aspect of this. The company also wants to let its customers know and see that it operates such a clean working environment. Staff and customers.

This all started to come to mind when I was speaking today with Kevin and Jane at JK's in Puerto Pollensa. This bar does well. I asked what they attribute the bar's success to. There are a number of factors, but one that came shining through, literally I guess, was cleanliness. To be honest, I had never really given this aspect of a bar much attention. I suppose I would if a place was unclean, but as a sort of selling point for a bar I wouldn't have placed it high on the list. But I'm not necessarily like others. I have heard this cleanliness angle elsewhere in respect of bars; cleanliness and uncleanliness. I have heard of people opting not to return to a bar because of a lack of cleanliness. People do rate it as being important.

I was given an example. Couple come in, order a couple of Pepsi's, sit down for a minute or so and then one goes to the loo, comes back, says something approving about the cleanliness and then they order something to eat. Cleanliness is next to Godliness and next to the goodliness of the bar.

All this emphasis on "clean" shouldn't come as a surprise. Look around reviews and you will often find cleanliness or filth being commented on. I know of a restaurant in Puerto Pollensa where a new owner took over this year and spent a tidy sum on rectifying the unedifying state of the loos.

Coming back to JKs, one of the other points they made was that they have a reputation for reliability in a variety of ways. What was it in one of those quotes about Honda? The last word in the second quote - "reliable". And perhaps that should be the last word about bars and their success.


QUIZ
Chain - The Elton-The Who connection was "Pinball Wizard". Elton was in the film of "Tommy" and how do you get from "Tommy" to Sting? Yesterday's title - The Boxtops. (See this at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z8RCfnWPOo). Today's title - lovely song by an underrated Glasgow indie band.

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)

It’s Good News Week

Well, at least the weather has improved enough for the beaches to be, if not packed, then well-attended. And near me in Playa de Muro attended also by the Guardia and a television crew (to be precise one person with a camera, but crew will do). What were they doing? Not sure; you don’t exactly walk up to the Guardia and enquire, but there was some chap with a clipboard and documents. Could have been more on the sunbed/lounger over-provision (15 July).



Some while ago, ages ago it seems, I mentioned the attempt to eradicate illegal holiday apartments. There has been more activity on this recently, with owners rushing to get their properties legalised, only for their applications to be rejected (in not every case, but in a majority). I bring this up because a correspondent to “The Bulletin” makes some pretty strident comments on the subject. He makes a very valuable point, namely that this form of accommodation has a benefit in that it offers high-value, year-round tourism, while those renting this accommodation are the sort of people who will go out. He finishes - “their (the people doing the renting) spend bears no comparison to what a typical hotel bed contributes”. Well said, I reckon.

And while on hotel beds. More “good news” statistics. Apparently the tourist season is exceeding all expectations. Ah yes, of course it is. Anyway, July’s hotel occupation for Alcúdia was 95% and Muro’s nearly 97%. What strikes one, well me at any rate, is the imbalance between Spanish and other tourists. You might recall my saying that the whole tourist season is being buoyed by an increase in Spanish tourism to Mallorca, a form of tourism that does tend to have a high spend (not that everyone would agree with that, but be that as it may). Yet look at Alcúdia, and the number of overnight stays during July were as follows - 8,439 (Spanish), 650,949 (foreign) - and for Muro they were, respectively, 35,004 and 515,965. As I pointed out on 7 August, the congratulatory noises regarding Spanish tourism were unlikely to be echoed on the streets of Alcúdia. I didn’t realise by how little. To put this into perspective, the proportion of Spanish to foreign tourists (per overnight stay) in July in Palma was about 1 to 5. In Alcúdia it was 1 to 77! The overall proportion for the island was around 1 to 11. Enough said.



Finally, just a quick word of consolation to Jane and Kevin at JKs Bar in Puerto Pollensa who have had a flood. All will be back and in order by tomorrow. It never rains, it pours. And Puerto Pollensa got it in the neck more than anywhere.


QUIZ
The Smiths everyone should have known. The other one was The Corrs “Would You Be Happier”. As a counterpoint to yesterday and because of the “good news” (allegedly) about the season’s numbers, who recorded today’s title?

(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)