This is the piece that has appeared in the latest "Talk Of The North", the one about the season that was.
So that was the season. It may be a little premature to be looking back with October not yet past, but to all intents and purposes the season has gone, some places counting their losses and shutting up shop early. That was the season that was. A season of extremes. Over four months of almost unbroken sunshine peaked with a 15-year temperature high (in Sa Pobla) of a touch over 42 degrees in July. And then the weather duly and predictably collapsed in mid-September, making the month the wettest in the last 30 years. The abrupt and grey end to summer only added to a sense of despondency as late-season bookings took a tumble along with the thermometer.
There were the extremes as experienced in the pocket, of health - swine flu - and on the streets and in the bars of Palmanova and Palma. Bombs. Despite the paranoia that made a few imagine that every shopping bag carried Semtex or a black ball with a wire sticking out of it, ETA's actions were seen for what they were: desperate and isolated. This also despite an outrageous claim by the travel editor of "The Sun" (the travel editor, mind) that the bombs could mark the end of tourism in Spain and that tourists would avoid Mallorca. I trust she's been reallocated to something less contentious or less intellectually challenging - like making the tea. The German tabloid press was not to be outdone. "Bild" claimed that Mallorca was some sort of hot spot for swine flu. The numbers who succumbed to the virus on the island remained low.
The price story, though, was the recurring theme of the season. Mallorca is so expensive. For some reason, Puerto Pollensa seemed to get it in the price neck more than anywhere else. Emotion and hyperbole intervened in an unseemly scramble to prove that one anecdote of high prices was better than another. The most crass was the example of paracetamol costing five euros. Chances are that it was being sold in a supermarket, and there was at least one supermarket in Playa de Muro doing just that - at a fiver a pop. The real story was that the supermarket had no right to be selling it. Amidst all the complaints as to costly this and costly that, the most legitimate complaint concerned hire cars. But even here, the charges were not universally high, while the fact that some agencies may indeed have been demanding what were excessive amounts should have come as no great surprise. In April, it had been announced that there would be a shortage of vehicles and that the lack of credit had limited agencies' abilities to renew their fleets. Moreover, the credit squeeze for hire cars was experienced in other countries.
Yet all of this led to the inevitable "the authorities must do something" and the gross exaggerations of the "demise" of tourism based on little more than one person's say-so and experience of a plate of steak and chips costing more than that person had bargained for. Emotiveness was no more apparent than in the default use of "beautiful" - as in our "beautiful island/resort" (delete as applicable) being "ruined" or "going to the dogs" (literally in the case of the ongoing doggy-doo tedium) because of high prices.
There was evidence also of a more extreme position being adopted by the hotels and tour operators in advancing the offer of all-inclusive places. Alcúdia's Bellevue was but one example. From zero five years ago to over 50% now - and growing in all likelihood. Just wait for next year when the hotels take on the bars in the World Cup war. A hotel room or lounge may lack the communal experience or atmosphere of a bar, but the hotels will be looking to try and ensure that watching Wayne Rooney getting himself sent off is done within their walls. TUI, meanwhile, was launching its first specifically all-inclusive brochures, in readiness for 2010.
And as the season's sun sets, so attention will shift to the lack of winter tourism. Amidst all the navel-gazing and angst caused by lower tourism spend and a fall of up to 20% in the British market (in some instances), those authorities - the ones who must always do something - were saying that the summer tourism model was working fine and that attention had to be paid to the off-season. They were wrong. More than anything, recession and the pound's slide have highlighted the extent that the summer model is subject to capricious economics and also to the tourist's priority in terms of cost. And if the summer model was so right, then why undertake exercises such as the Mallorca events held in Manchester in May or lavish a significant wedge on Rafa Nadal so that he'll unbutton his shirt and hang around on a yacht? If the summer model isn't working, then you can forget the rest. And how can it be said to be working if 50% or more places are all-inclusive and if the wider economy suffers as a consequence of these places whilst also being caught in the vice of recession and a basket-case pound? Only in terms of announcing numbers of tourists overall and in particular the numbers passing through Palma airport can it be said to be working. And in the case of the airport, the greater the numbers the better as the regional government seeks to get its hands on running it once the numbers reach the required level. One then also has the absurdity of the consistent attempts to undermine the private, holiday-let sector, one that offers the potential of high-value tourism which the authorities, apparently, crave.
Those authorities who must do something consistently miss the point. Nadal fronts up promotion for a corporate Balearics, yet it is the individual islands that are the "brands". No-one goes on holiday to the Balearics. At a time when spending on internet advertising in Britain has overtaken that on television, it is here - the internet - where the real battle is being fought. And it is one involving increasingly canny tourists on the hunt for a bargain. The real promotion for the island and the resorts is coming from the likes of Travel Republic and Alpharooms. Those authorities who must do something should accept the lesson of 2009, not the extremes of weather, not the flu, not the bombs, but - I'm sorry to have to say - all that price stuff. It's easy to be dismissive of those anecdotes, but in the same way as the tourist seeks his bargain so he takes note of an allegedly price-inflated pizza. They would do worse than to offer everyone a bribe, sorry, price incentive. Here, have a fiver and come to Mallorca. So long as you don't spend it on paracetamol.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Shangri-Las, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FxSM88H-G4.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Showing posts with label Season 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Season 2009. Show all posts
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Friday, May 01, 2009
Sixteen Military Wives
This is where it starts. The season. Except where it starts on 15, 16 May or even 1 June. The season is more stuttering into action rather than bursting out all over. Typically, everything would be open today and all staff would have been taken on. But not everything is open and those hoofing the streets asking for work may be luckier in June, but even then they will only get four months work. Welcome, season 2009, wherever you are. And some pretty bad news - they're predicting a hot summer in the UK. No, no, no, it will rain. Heavily and often. And it will be cold, very cold. Forget it, ignore it, these forecasts are never right.
The opening to the general public of the military area of Cap des Pinar in Alcúdia has been agreed between the town hall and the ministry of defence. This area, on the northern tip of the town past La Victoria, has been a no-go area for some years. It will still be off-limits from the sea, but access by land will be allowed during the months of June to September, though the numbers allowed in at any one time will be restricted; the environment ministry is also party to the agreement. A commission of the Balearic parliament is addressing the issue as to the civil use of both Cap des Pinar and the military base in Puerto Pollensa.
These two military zones are quite different. Cap des Pinar is remote. Any civil use would be limited by its sheer inaccessibility and so would, presumably, be confined to ramblers and the like. The Puerto Pollensa base, on the other hand, sits on the bay of Pollensa at the far end of the pinewalk. Apart from the Canadair fire-fighting planes, it might not immediately be apparent that there was some sort of installation there, military or civilian. But it represents a sizeable chunk of real estate, and has a history stretching back to the 1930s. One imagines that many a developer would drool at the prospect of getting hold of it. Not that this is likely to happen. Or is it?
What civil use could it be put to? I'm unclear as to how a military base can become some sort of civilian-military hybrid. By definition, a military base is for the military, with all that this entails. If the public were to be permitted to use it, for reasons as yet unspecified, then why keep it as a military base? Yet, how military actually is it? From what I can make out, and I found a piece dating back years from the newspaper "El País" which confirmed this, the base is essentially a centre for schooling in rescue and for housing (if that's the correct word) the Canadairs. And it is also a summer retreat for Spanish military and for those from other countries. All in all, it doesn't sound like it is a particularly sensitive base. There again, if the military believe that it is important, then it may well be. When the King's son, Crown-Prince Felipe, came to the base a couple of weeks ago, there was a great deal more aerial activity than would be normal. One view was that this was all intended as a sort of demonstration of the base's importance. I couldn't comment either way, except to note that even an essentially non-sensitive base, as Pollensa appears to be, could be activated for something rather more serious were the need to ever arise. And that, I suppose, would be the military view.
The context of all this is, as mentioned back on 25 February, that there was a political agreement in 2007 that Spanish military bases would be open to civilian use. Now, the Partido Popular is proposing that there be a study of all military bases in the Balearics and their ongoing "strategic interest". There may not be any strategic interest in having a military holiday camp, but personally it doesn't bother me that military personnel have somewhere to take a pleasant holiday. But they may have to get used to sharing their holiday space with those from Civvy Street, though what these civilians would actually do once they were there I haven't a clue. And ultimately, they may have to get used to taking a holiday somewhere else.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Living In A Box (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHt_GzOgjvA). Today's title - rather more than 16, but they all like holidaying in Puerto Pollensa. Who is this? The band is named after an attempted revolution. And the song ... La-di-dah ...
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
The opening to the general public of the military area of Cap des Pinar in Alcúdia has been agreed between the town hall and the ministry of defence. This area, on the northern tip of the town past La Victoria, has been a no-go area for some years. It will still be off-limits from the sea, but access by land will be allowed during the months of June to September, though the numbers allowed in at any one time will be restricted; the environment ministry is also party to the agreement. A commission of the Balearic parliament is addressing the issue as to the civil use of both Cap des Pinar and the military base in Puerto Pollensa.
These two military zones are quite different. Cap des Pinar is remote. Any civil use would be limited by its sheer inaccessibility and so would, presumably, be confined to ramblers and the like. The Puerto Pollensa base, on the other hand, sits on the bay of Pollensa at the far end of the pinewalk. Apart from the Canadair fire-fighting planes, it might not immediately be apparent that there was some sort of installation there, military or civilian. But it represents a sizeable chunk of real estate, and has a history stretching back to the 1930s. One imagines that many a developer would drool at the prospect of getting hold of it. Not that this is likely to happen. Or is it?
What civil use could it be put to? I'm unclear as to how a military base can become some sort of civilian-military hybrid. By definition, a military base is for the military, with all that this entails. If the public were to be permitted to use it, for reasons as yet unspecified, then why keep it as a military base? Yet, how military actually is it? From what I can make out, and I found a piece dating back years from the newspaper "El País" which confirmed this, the base is essentially a centre for schooling in rescue and for housing (if that's the correct word) the Canadairs. And it is also a summer retreat for Spanish military and for those from other countries. All in all, it doesn't sound like it is a particularly sensitive base. There again, if the military believe that it is important, then it may well be. When the King's son, Crown-Prince Felipe, came to the base a couple of weeks ago, there was a great deal more aerial activity than would be normal. One view was that this was all intended as a sort of demonstration of the base's importance. I couldn't comment either way, except to note that even an essentially non-sensitive base, as Pollensa appears to be, could be activated for something rather more serious were the need to ever arise. And that, I suppose, would be the military view.
The context of all this is, as mentioned back on 25 February, that there was a political agreement in 2007 that Spanish military bases would be open to civilian use. Now, the Partido Popular is proposing that there be a study of all military bases in the Balearics and their ongoing "strategic interest". There may not be any strategic interest in having a military holiday camp, but personally it doesn't bother me that military personnel have somewhere to take a pleasant holiday. But they may have to get used to sharing their holiday space with those from Civvy Street, though what these civilians would actually do once they were there I haven't a clue. And ultimately, they may have to get used to taking a holiday somewhere else.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Living In A Box (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHt_GzOgjvA). Today's title - rather more than 16, but they all like holidaying in Puerto Pollensa. Who is this? The band is named after an attempted revolution. And the song ... La-di-dah ...
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Message In A Bottle
You never know but maybe the message is getting through. Miquel Nadal, the Balearic Government's tourism minister, in the context of less than brilliant levels of bookings by the crucial Spanish and British tourism markets, has admitted that the islands' tourism has a "great dependency" on the sun and beach variety of tourism. This admission may seem obvious, but it needs to be stated and re-stated. The current economic situation has only helped to reinforce the fact that this admission needs to be constantly re-stated.
The problem is, and has been, that the tourism authorities, in general, have taken their collective eye off the ball - the one bouncing on the beach and blowing in the gentle breeze as grains of sand fly off. So much effort appears to have been diverted to the minority tourism niches that they have forgotten that what makes Mallorca's tourism tick is sun, sea and sangria. If you don't have the mass tourism that comes primarily just to lap up the heat, and that can equate - to a certain degree - to cheap and cheerful, then you don't have a tourist industry; well, not one that sustains an entire economy. At times, one has felt that there has been a pretentiousness and a delusion as to so-called alternative forms of tourism. While these have a part to play, they are not the core tourism product; they never have been and they never will be. The message for Mallorca is, or should be, very simple. Come and have fun in the sun. Don't be deterred by believing you have to come and undertake a course in culture. That is not what Mallorca holiday is. But it is what the tourism authorities have placed a growing emphasis on, at the expense, one feels, of the main product. It has taken the current "crisis" to refocus minds, or at least one hopes that it has. It is mass tourism that provides employment and sustains businesses, both the direct tourist businesses such as bars and hotels, and the indirect - the ancillary services that support these direct businesses. Niche markets, by definition, are not mass markets. They cannot support the island's economic model to anything like a sufficient level. It should not have needed an economic shock to bring the message home, but perhaps it's as well that it has happened. So when Sr. Nadal takes his summer break and is lounging on a quiet Mallorcan beach and a bottle is washed up on the shore, with a bit of luck the bit of paper will say: "keep it simple".
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Tracy Chapman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl6yilkU1LI). Today's title - no clues needed.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
The problem is, and has been, that the tourism authorities, in general, have taken their collective eye off the ball - the one bouncing on the beach and blowing in the gentle breeze as grains of sand fly off. So much effort appears to have been diverted to the minority tourism niches that they have forgotten that what makes Mallorca's tourism tick is sun, sea and sangria. If you don't have the mass tourism that comes primarily just to lap up the heat, and that can equate - to a certain degree - to cheap and cheerful, then you don't have a tourist industry; well, not one that sustains an entire economy. At times, one has felt that there has been a pretentiousness and a delusion as to so-called alternative forms of tourism. While these have a part to play, they are not the core tourism product; they never have been and they never will be. The message for Mallorca is, or should be, very simple. Come and have fun in the sun. Don't be deterred by believing you have to come and undertake a course in culture. That is not what Mallorca holiday is. But it is what the tourism authorities have placed a growing emphasis on, at the expense, one feels, of the main product. It has taken the current "crisis" to refocus minds, or at least one hopes that it has. It is mass tourism that provides employment and sustains businesses, both the direct tourist businesses such as bars and hotels, and the indirect - the ancillary services that support these direct businesses. Niche markets, by definition, are not mass markets. They cannot support the island's economic model to anything like a sufficient level. It should not have needed an economic shock to bring the message home, but perhaps it's as well that it has happened. So when Sr. Nadal takes his summer break and is lounging on a quiet Mallorcan beach and a bottle is washed up on the shore, with a bit of luck the bit of paper will say: "keep it simple".
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Tracy Chapman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl6yilkU1LI). Today's title - no clues needed.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
It Was The Month Of June
Pollensa town hall is consulting over the possibility of allowing building work to take place in tourist areas up to the middle of June and during October. Normally, work would be suspended at the end of April and then restarted in November. The reason for doing so is obvious: tourists don't want to listen to the sound of builders shouting "oi, luv, phwor" (or the local equivalent thereof) or to have to put up with the sight of builder's arse. Well, tourists may have to lump it for some of the season in Puerto Pollensa. Much as it is unwanted by tourists, there is sense in allowing some extension of building work. The six-month hiatus that exists at present not only delays projects, it is also a nonsense in terms of the credit that is issued for most building work to occur. There would still be a break of three and a half months under what would be a temporary measure owing to the current economic circumstances, but it would certainly be of help to the construction companies and it would also help to alleviate unemployment. The question would be which works would be allowed to continue. If this measure is agreed to, however, it is going to cause an almighty great rumpus where less-than-happy tourists are concerned. But it all comes back to how one reconciles tourism and everyday life of towns such as Pollensa. With difficulty is the answer.
I would like to know, though, why was at least one apartment block in the centre of Puerto Pollensa being worked on in August last year? I mentioned it at the time, and I'm still none the wiser. Oh, and words in the previous paragraph - "Pollensa town hall", "consulting". These have not always occurred in the same sentence, but now they do.
The typical six-month season looks as though it is losing one of those six months - in Can Picafort at any rate. I happened to be there yesterday, and in the warm sun and under cloudless skies, one could feel that not only was spring here but everything was rosy: Germans a-plenty, it seemed to me, taking the airs, annexing Son Bauló and marching on Café Paris. Well, not so rosy of course, and I was told that there is talk of hotels only opening for five months. As always one needs to be careful. These stories get bandied about and take on a life of their own. Does "hotels" actually mean one hotel, or indeed any?
Coming back to that junket whereby all those mayors, government representatives and various hangers-on pitched up in Brussels to plead for some more dosh and for a reconsideration of the directive on fireworks, how much do you reckon it all cost? Well, now we know.
"The Diario" gives the figure as 184,543 euros, made up of airline charter and other journeys, accommodation, an exhibition and a display of fire-running. A government official reckons that given the various meetings it was cost-effective There were some 17 meetings in all. What about I don't know. But the question remains - why did all these people have to go to Brussels? You do not need 40 mayors, for example. You don't really need 40 mayors in Mallorca, let alone 40 of the buggers swanning around the Belgian capital. I find it hard to believe that it was cost-effective. And I still find it hard to understand why this trip has not attracted widespread criticism - especially in these currently cash-strapped times.
One of those occasional personal moments, though not completely as there will be those of you who also know Juan from Restaurant Boy in Playa de Muro and Coloma. Well there is a new addition to the Boy world - a boy. Juan's father is called Juan, and Juan's son is ... what do you think? Congratulations to all the Juans.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Sweet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3XGjnQgsJA). Today's title - a line from something about being passed from the left-hand side: who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Index for February 2009
Alcúdia hotels - 1 February 2009
Bars - 2 February 2009, 26 February 2009
Beaches - 4 February 2009
Building work - 28 February 2009
Butane gas - 17 February 2009
Cave of Sant Marti - 27 February 2009
Cultural tourism - 22 February 2009
Cycling - 8 February 2009, 10 February 2009
Driving - 12 February 2009
Dunes - 27 February 2009
Ensaimada - 16 February 2009
Estaciones Náuticas - 14 February 2009, 19 February 2009
Expatriates - 16 February 2009
Export - 11 February 2009
Fire runs - 7 February 2009, 9 February 2009, 20 February 2009, 21 February 2009
Funding for the Balearics - 20 February 2009, 21 February 2009
Golf - 3 February 2009
Holiday lets - 3 February 2009
Hospitals - 5 February 2009
JK's Bar - 26 February 2009
Jolly Roger - 16 February 2009
Justice minister - 24 February 2009
Language - 2 February 2009
Market surveys - 22 February 2009
Mayors - 20 February 2009
Military bases - 25 February 2009
Moorings, Playa de Muro - 23 February 2009
Names - 2 February 2009, 6 February 2009
Nordic walking - 15 February 2009, 17 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa building work - 28 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa popularity - 18 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa's boat workshops - 20 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa's swimming pool - 9 February 2009
Real Mallorca - 27 February 2009
Restaurants - 5 February 2009
Roundabouts - 4 February 2009, 10 February 2009, 12 February 2009, 23 February 2009
Sa Pobla-to-Alcúdia railway - 13 February 2009, 14 February 2009
Thomson - 18 February 2009
Top Gear - 5 February 2009, 7 February 2009, 12 February 2009, 21 February 2009
Tour of Mallorca - 8 February 2009
Tour operators - 18 February 2009
Vandalism - 27 February 2009
Water sports centre, Alcúdia as a - 14 February 2009, 19 February 2009
Websites - 22 February 2009
Wing mirrors - 10 February 2009
Winter tourism - 1 February 2009, 25 February 2009, 26 February 2009
I would like to know, though, why was at least one apartment block in the centre of Puerto Pollensa being worked on in August last year? I mentioned it at the time, and I'm still none the wiser. Oh, and words in the previous paragraph - "Pollensa town hall", "consulting". These have not always occurred in the same sentence, but now they do.
The typical six-month season looks as though it is losing one of those six months - in Can Picafort at any rate. I happened to be there yesterday, and in the warm sun and under cloudless skies, one could feel that not only was spring here but everything was rosy: Germans a-plenty, it seemed to me, taking the airs, annexing Son Bauló and marching on Café Paris. Well, not so rosy of course, and I was told that there is talk of hotels only opening for five months. As always one needs to be careful. These stories get bandied about and take on a life of their own. Does "hotels" actually mean one hotel, or indeed any?
Coming back to that junket whereby all those mayors, government representatives and various hangers-on pitched up in Brussels to plead for some more dosh and for a reconsideration of the directive on fireworks, how much do you reckon it all cost? Well, now we know.
"The Diario" gives the figure as 184,543 euros, made up of airline charter and other journeys, accommodation, an exhibition and a display of fire-running. A government official reckons that given the various meetings it was cost-effective There were some 17 meetings in all. What about I don't know. But the question remains - why did all these people have to go to Brussels? You do not need 40 mayors, for example. You don't really need 40 mayors in Mallorca, let alone 40 of the buggers swanning around the Belgian capital. I find it hard to believe that it was cost-effective. And I still find it hard to understand why this trip has not attracted widespread criticism - especially in these currently cash-strapped times.
One of those occasional personal moments, though not completely as there will be those of you who also know Juan from Restaurant Boy in Playa de Muro and Coloma. Well there is a new addition to the Boy world - a boy. Juan's father is called Juan, and Juan's son is ... what do you think? Congratulations to all the Juans.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Sweet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3XGjnQgsJA). Today's title - a line from something about being passed from the left-hand side: who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Index for February 2009
Alcúdia hotels - 1 February 2009
Bars - 2 February 2009, 26 February 2009
Beaches - 4 February 2009
Building work - 28 February 2009
Butane gas - 17 February 2009
Cave of Sant Marti - 27 February 2009
Cultural tourism - 22 February 2009
Cycling - 8 February 2009, 10 February 2009
Driving - 12 February 2009
Dunes - 27 February 2009
Ensaimada - 16 February 2009
Estaciones Náuticas - 14 February 2009, 19 February 2009
Expatriates - 16 February 2009
Export - 11 February 2009
Fire runs - 7 February 2009, 9 February 2009, 20 February 2009, 21 February 2009
Funding for the Balearics - 20 February 2009, 21 February 2009
Golf - 3 February 2009
Holiday lets - 3 February 2009
Hospitals - 5 February 2009
JK's Bar - 26 February 2009
Jolly Roger - 16 February 2009
Justice minister - 24 February 2009
Language - 2 February 2009
Market surveys - 22 February 2009
Mayors - 20 February 2009
Military bases - 25 February 2009
Moorings, Playa de Muro - 23 February 2009
Names - 2 February 2009, 6 February 2009
Nordic walking - 15 February 2009, 17 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa building work - 28 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa popularity - 18 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa's boat workshops - 20 February 2009
Puerto Pollensa's swimming pool - 9 February 2009
Real Mallorca - 27 February 2009
Restaurants - 5 February 2009
Roundabouts - 4 February 2009, 10 February 2009, 12 February 2009, 23 February 2009
Sa Pobla-to-Alcúdia railway - 13 February 2009, 14 February 2009
Thomson - 18 February 2009
Top Gear - 5 February 2009, 7 February 2009, 12 February 2009, 21 February 2009
Tour of Mallorca - 8 February 2009
Tour operators - 18 February 2009
Vandalism - 27 February 2009
Water sports centre, Alcúdia as a - 14 February 2009, 19 February 2009
Websites - 22 February 2009
Wing mirrors - 10 February 2009
Winter tourism - 1 February 2009, 25 February 2009, 26 February 2009
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Big Log
How do you get hotels to stay open in winter? Incentives, plenty of carrot? Or how about the reverse and plenty of stick? Were you aware that hotels have the option to stay open in winter but that many fail to take up that option? Hotel X will be officially listed as six, seven or twelve months of the year, and if it is the twelve, irrespective of whether the hotel does take up the option and is open, there will be a local tax for the off-season months; not a big one but tax nonetheless. This is where the stick, or rather a bigger stick with a pointed end, is due to come in; in Alcúdia at any rate; and in 2011. If the hotel has that option, it is going to be paying a higher tax for the privilege. With that stick hovering, the hope would be that the hotel would actually open. It's a theory, I suppose.
We've been here before. The issue is less one of the hotel staying open as why anyone would want to come to the hotel or whether they would be able to come even if they did want to, and for this latter aspect one has to consider the airlines and the tour operators. It's all very well using the stick of higher taxes to make those hotels stay open - and there is no actual shortage of those with the option - but, with the best will in the world, will people bother turning up? While the hotel itself may be able to conjure up enough by way of food, drink and entertainment, the hotel - by itself - is not a reason to come. It is what goes on outside that matters. And it is the ability of the hotel/hotels - together with the local authority - to put in place packages of things to do that would justify the higher tax. Otherwise it is just punitive, especially if the town hall sits on its backside and doesn't get involved with promotion and proactively assisting in creating attractive packages of events.
More immediately pressing of course is what this season will bring. Tourism minister Nadal's vain plea to the media to avoid scaremongering has been for the most part just that - vain. There again, if the head of the Mallorca hotel federation is willing to feed the media with stories of "worries" then that same media is hardly likely to ignore them. He's at it again, saying that there are these "worries" in Alcúdia and Muro because of the likely problems with the British market. Well, there will always be worries, but it should not be overlooked that one thing both Alcúdia and Muro have going for them is that they are cosmopolitan; the British are important but the tourist market in these places is pretty diverse, more so than, for example, Pollensa. Sr. Horrach, the federation head, is also warning that the hotels can anticipate fewer tourists and lower revenues this year. I think we would be worried if he were to say the opposite.
JOBS VACANCIES - SUMMER SEASON 2009
A first for the blog and probably a last as well. Recession may have hit Spain, but not Mallorca (and that is officially the case), and so employment opportunities flourish - sort of. Anyway, here are positions that I am pleased to offer. Well, not me as such; offering on someone's behalf.
Travel agency requires:
1. Customer service/sales staff
Positions available for season starting mid April until end October 2009.
Duties include providing information to clients, proactive selling of services in our resort offices.
Applicants must be well presented, confident, have a good knowledge of the island of Mallorca, be willing to learn, work well in a small team, flexible with regard to working hours. Languages an advantage.
We provide:
Spanish contract; weekly sales commission; a young dynamic work environment; full and ongoing training.
2. In-house tour guides
Duties include accompanying groups of clients to various points, providing interesting, entertaining commentary throughout the journey, ensuring the welfare of the customers and the success of the day.
Would suit mature person on a part-time basis.
Applicant needs to be physically fit, well presented, confident on the microphone, have a good knowledge of the island.
Applications for both positions welcome to the following email address. Please attach a recent photograph.
summerwork2009@hotmail.com
(Let me just say that, though it may not be clear which company this is, it is a very reputable business and I can vouch for both the company and the authenticity of the posts being offered - just in case anyone might think otherwise.)
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Spandau Ballet, "True" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYb83KM4at4). Today - Ok, so it's rather bigger than a stick. Who was it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
We've been here before. The issue is less one of the hotel staying open as why anyone would want to come to the hotel or whether they would be able to come even if they did want to, and for this latter aspect one has to consider the airlines and the tour operators. It's all very well using the stick of higher taxes to make those hotels stay open - and there is no actual shortage of those with the option - but, with the best will in the world, will people bother turning up? While the hotel itself may be able to conjure up enough by way of food, drink and entertainment, the hotel - by itself - is not a reason to come. It is what goes on outside that matters. And it is the ability of the hotel/hotels - together with the local authority - to put in place packages of things to do that would justify the higher tax. Otherwise it is just punitive, especially if the town hall sits on its backside and doesn't get involved with promotion and proactively assisting in creating attractive packages of events.
More immediately pressing of course is what this season will bring. Tourism minister Nadal's vain plea to the media to avoid scaremongering has been for the most part just that - vain. There again, if the head of the Mallorca hotel federation is willing to feed the media with stories of "worries" then that same media is hardly likely to ignore them. He's at it again, saying that there are these "worries" in Alcúdia and Muro because of the likely problems with the British market. Well, there will always be worries, but it should not be overlooked that one thing both Alcúdia and Muro have going for them is that they are cosmopolitan; the British are important but the tourist market in these places is pretty diverse, more so than, for example, Pollensa. Sr. Horrach, the federation head, is also warning that the hotels can anticipate fewer tourists and lower revenues this year. I think we would be worried if he were to say the opposite.
JOBS VACANCIES - SUMMER SEASON 2009
A first for the blog and probably a last as well. Recession may have hit Spain, but not Mallorca (and that is officially the case), and so employment opportunities flourish - sort of. Anyway, here are positions that I am pleased to offer. Well, not me as such; offering on someone's behalf.
Travel agency requires:
1. Customer service/sales staff
Positions available for season starting mid April until end October 2009.
Duties include providing information to clients, proactive selling of services in our resort offices.
Applicants must be well presented, confident, have a good knowledge of the island of Mallorca, be willing to learn, work well in a small team, flexible with regard to working hours. Languages an advantage.
We provide:
Spanish contract; weekly sales commission; a young dynamic work environment; full and ongoing training.
2. In-house tour guides
Duties include accompanying groups of clients to various points, providing interesting, entertaining commentary throughout the journey, ensuring the welfare of the customers and the success of the day.
Would suit mature person on a part-time basis.
Applicant needs to be physically fit, well presented, confident on the microphone, have a good knowledge of the island.
Applications for both positions welcome to the following email address. Please attach a recent photograph.
summerwork2009@hotmail.com
(Let me just say that, though it may not be clear which company this is, it is a very reputable business and I can vouch for both the company and the authenticity of the posts being offered - just in case anyone might think otherwise.)
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Spandau Ballet, "True" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYb83KM4at4). Today - Ok, so it's rather bigger than a stick. Who was it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Disaster
Someone once told me that the authorities couldn't really care less what sort of holidaymakers turn up in Mallorca, so long as they turn up and turn up in great numbers; numbers sufficient to justify the investment that has been put into the development of Palma airport, and numbers which would increase that much more - and no self-interest involved here of course - so that the local government would be able to take a piece of the pie in managing the airport. But that would be some way off. Especially if the numbers decline. And falling numbers are really not what anyone had in mind. The only problem is that the number did fall - in 2008.
The movement of people though the airport is, in some ways, one of the better ways of gauging tourism activity. Not totally of course. There are enough ranges of lard mountain being herded through Son Sant Joan en route to their all-inclusive troughs to skew any meaningful notion as to numbers and indeed types of holidaymaker. But as, for the most part, the tourist arrives by air, you do get a reasonable handle on things, always assuming that there hasn't been some - how to put it - massaging of the figures. And there doesn't appear to have been, not for 2008 at any rate; there was a decline just short of 400,000. That said, of the three main tourist markets (mainland Spain, Germany and the UK), the largest fall was among the Spanish, the UK showed a fall of some 100,000, but the Germans increased slightly.
Insofar as 2008 performance can mean anything when projecting for this season, the airport numbers do seem to tally with other reports from last year, especially in respect of the slump in Spanish tourism. The good news for the north of the island is that this market is of little consequence. Anyway, despite the call by the tourism minister for some positive spin, the message doesn't seem to have found its way to one commentator in "Ultima Hora" who says that it will require a "titanic effort to avoid a disaster this year". Ah yes, that word again. Disaster. The minister said we media sorts shouldn't use it, but up it pops - regular as ... well as regular as "desastre", because anything or everything here can be a "desastre". The beach near to me is at present, according to my ancient Mallorcan neighbours, "un desastre"; the reason being that it's full of natural rubbish. One of the flats that the ancients rent out was also once "un desastre" after three TUI reps had been in it for a season. The word is actually used so much that it does rather lose its meaning.
We are told that 2009 is likely to be on a par with 2006. Now, I don't really recall the ins and outs of that particular year, but I don't remember it being "un desastre". Indeed, although 2007 was meant to have been a record year, there were those who would maintain that 2006 was better. So, quite where this gets us I've no idea. Nowhere in all likelihood. But if 2007 was indeed a record year, then is there not some consolation in accepting that not every year can be a record year, and that if there is a bit more of a decline in the numbers of Brits exiting the Luton EasyJet it doesn't actually equate to "un desastre"? There is a slight drawback in this argument in that 2008 was meant to have been a record year as well, which was probably bollocks and the lower numbers coming through the airport would tend to to support that. But we have the word of the bloke at TUI, i.e. its chief executive, who says that people will still take their foreign holiday; the thing that will prevent them is not recession, but unemployment. To that end, let's just hope people keep their jobs. Or ... desastre.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Dandy Warhols (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuFtfhOipNQ). Today's title - ok, you'll be doing well with this, but it comes from a wonderful Canadian indie group who did get the odd mention here in 2007. They take their name from some water in Saskatchewan.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
The movement of people though the airport is, in some ways, one of the better ways of gauging tourism activity. Not totally of course. There are enough ranges of lard mountain being herded through Son Sant Joan en route to their all-inclusive troughs to skew any meaningful notion as to numbers and indeed types of holidaymaker. But as, for the most part, the tourist arrives by air, you do get a reasonable handle on things, always assuming that there hasn't been some - how to put it - massaging of the figures. And there doesn't appear to have been, not for 2008 at any rate; there was a decline just short of 400,000. That said, of the three main tourist markets (mainland Spain, Germany and the UK), the largest fall was among the Spanish, the UK showed a fall of some 100,000, but the Germans increased slightly.
Insofar as 2008 performance can mean anything when projecting for this season, the airport numbers do seem to tally with other reports from last year, especially in respect of the slump in Spanish tourism. The good news for the north of the island is that this market is of little consequence. Anyway, despite the call by the tourism minister for some positive spin, the message doesn't seem to have found its way to one commentator in "Ultima Hora" who says that it will require a "titanic effort to avoid a disaster this year". Ah yes, that word again. Disaster. The minister said we media sorts shouldn't use it, but up it pops - regular as ... well as regular as "desastre", because anything or everything here can be a "desastre". The beach near to me is at present, according to my ancient Mallorcan neighbours, "un desastre"; the reason being that it's full of natural rubbish. One of the flats that the ancients rent out was also once "un desastre" after three TUI reps had been in it for a season. The word is actually used so much that it does rather lose its meaning.
We are told that 2009 is likely to be on a par with 2006. Now, I don't really recall the ins and outs of that particular year, but I don't remember it being "un desastre". Indeed, although 2007 was meant to have been a record year, there were those who would maintain that 2006 was better. So, quite where this gets us I've no idea. Nowhere in all likelihood. But if 2007 was indeed a record year, then is there not some consolation in accepting that not every year can be a record year, and that if there is a bit more of a decline in the numbers of Brits exiting the Luton EasyJet it doesn't actually equate to "un desastre"? There is a slight drawback in this argument in that 2008 was meant to have been a record year as well, which was probably bollocks and the lower numbers coming through the airport would tend to to support that. But we have the word of the bloke at TUI, i.e. its chief executive, who says that people will still take their foreign holiday; the thing that will prevent them is not recession, but unemployment. To that end, let's just hope people keep their jobs. Or ... desastre.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Dandy Warhols (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuFtfhOipNQ). Today's title - ok, you'll be doing well with this, but it comes from a wonderful Canadian indie group who did get the odd mention here in 2007. They take their name from some water in Saskatchewan.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Friday, January 09, 2009
Even The Bad Times Are Good
Everyone's looking for a bargain, everyone's looking to save some money. Natural, even when times are good, but at present ... it's how to make even the bad times good. Against the background of all the economic malaise comes the news, and this is probably not a surprise, that bookings for all-inclusive (AI) holidays are up - up quite significantly, according to "The Diario". While there are not figures specific to Mallorca or to any resort on the island, the paper is saying that, in the UK, reservations for AI are up by 17%, as the Brits indulge in their annual post-festivities holiday-purchasing bingeing. Crisis? What crisis? None. The holiday is a necessity, or had you not noticed?
The paper quotes ABTA as saying that there is some stigma attached to AI holidays and also says that, by comparison with the Brits, the Germans are less attracted to an AI holiday. On the first point, yep, you bet there's a stigma. Around here especially. And especially where some of the clientele is concerned - the chav ASBO cases and their kids having a crap in the pools. The paper, though, has a quite extraordinary caption to a photo that accompanies the article. It says, essentially, that tourists prefer the tranquility they are given by an AI holiday. Tranquility? Who the hell are they trying to kid? They should head off to likes of the Club Mac hotels in Alcúdia, have a walk around those at the height of summer. Tranquility? My arse. It's like an Hieronymous Bosch depiction of Bedlam. I have wondered, in the past, how well the media here understands the holiday business, and this probably tells me. They don't, or appear to have a less than full appreciation, put it that way. Rather like politicians, some of the media are too remote from what it is actually like on the ground - the ground, say, that forms The Mile in Alcúdia.
There are, of course, hotels that offer AI which are very nice. The Iberostars, for example. The big exclusive AIs, the ones everyone here knows about, do not come into this category. Though the demand for AI is up, and understandably so, I am a little surprised because it seemed the case last year that the AIs - in Alcúdia at any rate - were taking a bit of a hit. But it is understandable that holidaymakers go for AI. They know, more or less, the total sum of what they will pay. Even if it were to be proven that an AI was actually more expensive than, say, a self-catering plus the various out-of-hotel costs, chances are that the punter would still opt for it as he feels a degree of security in knowing that it's all paid for, despite the fact that he might end up with rubbish service and quality.
I've said before here that it is something of a no-brainer for the family on a tight budget to go AI. That doesn't mean to say that I believe that it is right for Mallorca; for Alcúdia or Can Picafort. It's the reality, and in 2009 it may become even more of a reality. Also in the article, there is a hoteliers' representative who says that hotels with AI offers in Mallorca "work very well". And there probably are, but I also know that there are hotel directors who would quite happily ditch AI.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Travis, "Closer" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2hYn_4yuhc). Today's title - decidedly average song from the summer of love; this group had split from their close-to-Bournemouth singer-leader.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
The paper quotes ABTA as saying that there is some stigma attached to AI holidays and also says that, by comparison with the Brits, the Germans are less attracted to an AI holiday. On the first point, yep, you bet there's a stigma. Around here especially. And especially where some of the clientele is concerned - the chav ASBO cases and their kids having a crap in the pools. The paper, though, has a quite extraordinary caption to a photo that accompanies the article. It says, essentially, that tourists prefer the tranquility they are given by an AI holiday. Tranquility? Who the hell are they trying to kid? They should head off to likes of the Club Mac hotels in Alcúdia, have a walk around those at the height of summer. Tranquility? My arse. It's like an Hieronymous Bosch depiction of Bedlam. I have wondered, in the past, how well the media here understands the holiday business, and this probably tells me. They don't, or appear to have a less than full appreciation, put it that way. Rather like politicians, some of the media are too remote from what it is actually like on the ground - the ground, say, that forms The Mile in Alcúdia.
There are, of course, hotels that offer AI which are very nice. The Iberostars, for example. The big exclusive AIs, the ones everyone here knows about, do not come into this category. Though the demand for AI is up, and understandably so, I am a little surprised because it seemed the case last year that the AIs - in Alcúdia at any rate - were taking a bit of a hit. But it is understandable that holidaymakers go for AI. They know, more or less, the total sum of what they will pay. Even if it were to be proven that an AI was actually more expensive than, say, a self-catering plus the various out-of-hotel costs, chances are that the punter would still opt for it as he feels a degree of security in knowing that it's all paid for, despite the fact that he might end up with rubbish service and quality.
I've said before here that it is something of a no-brainer for the family on a tight budget to go AI. That doesn't mean to say that I believe that it is right for Mallorca; for Alcúdia or Can Picafort. It's the reality, and in 2009 it may become even more of a reality. Also in the article, there is a hoteliers' representative who says that hotels with AI offers in Mallorca "work very well". And there probably are, but I also know that there are hotel directors who would quite happily ditch AI.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Travis, "Closer" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2hYn_4yuhc). Today's title - decidedly average song from the summer of love; this group had split from their close-to-Bournemouth singer-leader.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, December 06, 2008
You Ain't Got No Responsibility
Miquel Nadal, the tourism minister, wants the media to act responsibly. Not the first time we have ever heard a minister of whatever colour or country make such a request. In the "Majorca Daily Bulletin" yesterday was a report that, in a sense, was quite extraordinary. Sr. Nadal was asking for, almost demanding, that the media portray a healthy situation in respect of next season's tourism. He doesn't want scaremongering or talk of a disaster, himself saying that the 2009 season will be "a great one". Though he is chipper, or at least his announcement is, behind the call to the media lies, one suspects, a more sober appraisal.
But always rely on a politician to look for a positive spin, I suppose. In one sense, he is absolutely right. Rather like one feels that there is a tendency for the media to talk economies into recession, so - one could argue - it can do the same in creating a poor tourist season, though I think that this is stretching a point. Positivity rather than negativity can help, if nothing else, to try and lift spirits and give some cause for optimism as opposed to the bleakness of pessimism. He's right in this regard. But he is also wrong. Does he realise what he is asking for? There is a word for it - propaganda. The media pumps out much governmental propaganda as it is, but its role is to comment upon, analyse and question it, not to blindly accept it. To do so would be to abrogate responsibility.
Talk of a disaster is way wide of the mark, and it would be irresponsible to predict one. There is enough evidence, independent of government spin or statistics, to suggest that the season will be - should be - acceptable if nothing more. But the media has to be allowed, in a balanced fashion, to present realities and to not paint a picture of all things being rosy when they are not. Does Sr. Nadal expect the media to report the unemployment figures and the slump in the construction industry as evidence of a vibrant economy? Tourism is so vital that any indications of a downturn are not just a single-column mention on an inside page, they are front-page headlines. Mallorca is tourism, and the minister is fully aware of this - one would hope.
One of the problems for Sr. Nadal is that there is a gap between what the government says, and the statistics it produces, and what is experienced by businesses. There is a credibility issue; the government's figures are not believed. When it was said that tourism spend had actually increased this year, one could hear the sarcastic laughs stretching the length of the resorts' promenades. The word on the street, if you like, is a different language to that of governmental offices. Furthermore, the minister says that tour operators always present a more unfavourable situation in seeking to get a "better deal". On 16 November (Smooth Operators), I referred to the decline in sales being reported by both TUI and Thomas Cook - an average of 18.5% for the UK market between the two companies. That piece also mentioned the 20% increase in sales that the tourism ministry is suggesting, a point reiterated yesterday. How does one reconcile the two? When Sr. Nadal speaks of a 20% rise in "takings", what exactly does he mean? My reading of this is that he may be somewhat disingenuous. The tour operators are reducing capacity and at the same time increasing prices. It is a simple law of economics that, assuming sales do come through, "takings" will rise if you cut the costs of production (the capacity) and up your prices. As a tactic, it does not mean that volume (numbers of tourists) will be the same; indeed it explicitly represents a fall. The tour operators may be giving off some less than buoyant figures, but the minister should bear in mind that they are public companies and are bound by rules of governance as to announcements. To overstate the case, to send out an over-optimistic message is to run the risk of breaching their own compliance. Governments have no such governance.
But when Sr. Nadal calls for responsible reporting, is he not overegging the media pudding? To what extent does the local media have any impact on, for example, the British holidaymaker? Spanish perhaps, though even here I would doubt it. It is the case that foreign media does pick up on local stories and issues, and they have, apparently to detrimental effect. The property market is one, if you can believe what at least one estate agency has told me. But that is different. The size and nature of property versus holiday investments bear no comparison. If a holidaymaker learns that Mallorca may have a poorer tourist season in 2009, is the minister seriously suggesting that this will make him think twice about coming? Hardly. He knows for himself what the tour operators are doing and saying. And he knows full well about the exchange rate, recession and the credit crunch. He can thank the media to an extent, but he can also see it for himself. A more likely target of negative reporting, in Sr. Nadal's eyes, is probably that of local businesses who, believing things might be bad, will hold off with their own investments and employment. I suspect, however, that many will be doing this anyway, with or without the word of the media to guide them. (And I will probably come to an aspect of this tomorrow.)
I have no wish to talk down the coming tourist season. There are business owners here who read this blog and for whom I would like to say that everything is going to be just dandy, and I hope that it will be. But I am sufficiently close enough to these owners and to what is said generally to know that there is a discrepancy between what the government says and what businesses' realities are. Sr. Nadal talks of the "reality" in his dismissing tour operators' protestations of an unfavourable situation. One is left to ask what is the reality.
CONSTITUTION DAY
On a quite different note, today is a celebration, a public holiday, the thirtieth anniversary of the "Carta Magna", the Spanish constitution, ratified by referendum on this day in 1978 and then given the royal seal on 27 December of that year. And some said it would never last.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Madness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9v9M). Today's title - there is another line in this: "you're a million miles from reality". More Motown harmony and cheesy choreography and outfits.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
But always rely on a politician to look for a positive spin, I suppose. In one sense, he is absolutely right. Rather like one feels that there is a tendency for the media to talk economies into recession, so - one could argue - it can do the same in creating a poor tourist season, though I think that this is stretching a point. Positivity rather than negativity can help, if nothing else, to try and lift spirits and give some cause for optimism as opposed to the bleakness of pessimism. He's right in this regard. But he is also wrong. Does he realise what he is asking for? There is a word for it - propaganda. The media pumps out much governmental propaganda as it is, but its role is to comment upon, analyse and question it, not to blindly accept it. To do so would be to abrogate responsibility.
Talk of a disaster is way wide of the mark, and it would be irresponsible to predict one. There is enough evidence, independent of government spin or statistics, to suggest that the season will be - should be - acceptable if nothing more. But the media has to be allowed, in a balanced fashion, to present realities and to not paint a picture of all things being rosy when they are not. Does Sr. Nadal expect the media to report the unemployment figures and the slump in the construction industry as evidence of a vibrant economy? Tourism is so vital that any indications of a downturn are not just a single-column mention on an inside page, they are front-page headlines. Mallorca is tourism, and the minister is fully aware of this - one would hope.
One of the problems for Sr. Nadal is that there is a gap between what the government says, and the statistics it produces, and what is experienced by businesses. There is a credibility issue; the government's figures are not believed. When it was said that tourism spend had actually increased this year, one could hear the sarcastic laughs stretching the length of the resorts' promenades. The word on the street, if you like, is a different language to that of governmental offices. Furthermore, the minister says that tour operators always present a more unfavourable situation in seeking to get a "better deal". On 16 November (Smooth Operators), I referred to the decline in sales being reported by both TUI and Thomas Cook - an average of 18.5% for the UK market between the two companies. That piece also mentioned the 20% increase in sales that the tourism ministry is suggesting, a point reiterated yesterday. How does one reconcile the two? When Sr. Nadal speaks of a 20% rise in "takings", what exactly does he mean? My reading of this is that he may be somewhat disingenuous. The tour operators are reducing capacity and at the same time increasing prices. It is a simple law of economics that, assuming sales do come through, "takings" will rise if you cut the costs of production (the capacity) and up your prices. As a tactic, it does not mean that volume (numbers of tourists) will be the same; indeed it explicitly represents a fall. The tour operators may be giving off some less than buoyant figures, but the minister should bear in mind that they are public companies and are bound by rules of governance as to announcements. To overstate the case, to send out an over-optimistic message is to run the risk of breaching their own compliance. Governments have no such governance.
But when Sr. Nadal calls for responsible reporting, is he not overegging the media pudding? To what extent does the local media have any impact on, for example, the British holidaymaker? Spanish perhaps, though even here I would doubt it. It is the case that foreign media does pick up on local stories and issues, and they have, apparently to detrimental effect. The property market is one, if you can believe what at least one estate agency has told me. But that is different. The size and nature of property versus holiday investments bear no comparison. If a holidaymaker learns that Mallorca may have a poorer tourist season in 2009, is the minister seriously suggesting that this will make him think twice about coming? Hardly. He knows for himself what the tour operators are doing and saying. And he knows full well about the exchange rate, recession and the credit crunch. He can thank the media to an extent, but he can also see it for himself. A more likely target of negative reporting, in Sr. Nadal's eyes, is probably that of local businesses who, believing things might be bad, will hold off with their own investments and employment. I suspect, however, that many will be doing this anyway, with or without the word of the media to guide them. (And I will probably come to an aspect of this tomorrow.)
I have no wish to talk down the coming tourist season. There are business owners here who read this blog and for whom I would like to say that everything is going to be just dandy, and I hope that it will be. But I am sufficiently close enough to these owners and to what is said generally to know that there is a discrepancy between what the government says and what businesses' realities are. Sr. Nadal talks of the "reality" in his dismissing tour operators' protestations of an unfavourable situation. One is left to ask what is the reality.
CONSTITUTION DAY
On a quite different note, today is a celebration, a public holiday, the thirtieth anniversary of the "Carta Magna", the Spanish constitution, ratified by referendum on this day in 1978 and then given the royal seal on 27 December of that year. And some said it would never last.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Madness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYZNSyP9v9M). Today's title - there is another line in this: "you're a million miles from reality". More Motown harmony and cheesy choreography and outfits.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Give Me A Reason
A thought-provoking moment from the "Majorca Daily Bulletin" yesterday. Well, it provoked my thoughts; I can't speak about others. On the tourism front, a professor in Barcelona is saying that, while the top and bottom ends of the market should be fine next season, the middle market is more likely to shrink. He explains this by comparing tourism with the situation in the car sector where mid-range car sales have fallen but the top end is still growing.
It's an interesting comparison, but I'm not entirely sure I agree. Intuitively, one would anticipate that anything other than the top end would decline next year, but there are plenty of messages floating around that suggest otherwise. Firstly, that bottom end. One has to be careful as to definition, but locally (in Alcúdia at any rate) it seemed that this year it was the very economic market, typified by the exclusive all-inclusives, that was taking a hit. I'm not sure that Bellevue, only a third or so of it all-inclusive, had a particularly brilliant season either. Yet some other hotels in the same area that were offering half board or self-catering were doing fine thanks very much. Ok, that this was this year, but there is a general feeling that, despite the economic problems, people will still fork out for their annual holiday. The car analogy may not be that appropriate, as the purchase of a new car is something that can be deferred. So, you might say, could a holiday, but there is perhaps less rationality when it comes to buying holidays or not.
There was, though, the evidence in August of hotels that were making special offers; hotels like Molins in Cala San Vicente or the Daina in Puerto Pollensa. I guess you would define these hotels as catering for the middle market, but again one has to be careful with one's classifications. Alcúdia, it might be said, has a strong lower middle-market presence than does Puerto Pollensa, but that lower middle-market is not the budget end, which the professor is saying is one that is likely to grow. From what I understand, bookings within this market for 2009 are pretty good. Right down at the budget end of the market, let's be blunt, the contribution to the wider economy is relatively small, especially if much of this market heads to an all-inclusive. The crucial factor for next year, especially where the British market is concerned, could well be the state of the pound, and the exchange rate against the euro could yet get worse. If the Brit holidaymaker does decide to go ahead with his fortnight in Mallorca and Euroland, there must be some concern as to spend, more so than has been the case over the past two to three years.
One hears calls for bars and restaurants to take account of the exchange rate and to price accordingly. It's all well and good, but why should they? Indeed, how can they? Owners may be well aware of the sinking pound, but they are also aware of their own costs. It would surprise me if one were to find significant price hikes next season, but it would surprise me even more if there were to be reductions. This said, if the Brit holidaymaker has yet to decide on his destination for next year, that exchange rate could yet become the loser in the penalty shoot-out between Mallorca and the likes of Turkey or Croatia.
There is now also the issue of VAT. The two and a half per cent reduction may be designed to stimulate consumer spending, but will it make much of a difference to the holiday decision-making purchase? On a two thousand pound holiday, the element for VAT means that, net, the holiday actually costs a bit over 1700 pounds. With a reduction, the final cost would now make the holiday some 40-odd quid cheaper. An incentive? It would be questionable even if it were true. The VAT calculation is far more complicated than I have just outlined, owing to factors such as the tour operators margin scheme (and don't ask me to try and explain that). If there is any reduction it will not even be in this range, and chances are that it wouldn't be passed on anyway. Forget it.
Nope, the real issue - that shoot-out decider - is the pound in your pocket, or rather the pound in your pocket when it is removed and then presented in exchange for a euro. The problem is that you might get just a euro, or even less. That would be worrying; if it went below one euro that could be the point at which the holidaymaker crosses the psychological barrier, and crosses off Mallorca from his list of destinations. But there again, rational though that might be to do so, who said that the holiday decision was solely a reasoned one; the holidaymaker needs to be given little reason to have that holiday and in Mallorca, despite the state of the pound. The middle market may not grow next year, but it may also not fall. Or am I being irrational in believing so.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Kaiser Chiefs, "Ruby" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDcOViViNY). Today's title - oh, no apologies, it is Andrea after all. So therefore ...
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
It's an interesting comparison, but I'm not entirely sure I agree. Intuitively, one would anticipate that anything other than the top end would decline next year, but there are plenty of messages floating around that suggest otherwise. Firstly, that bottom end. One has to be careful as to definition, but locally (in Alcúdia at any rate) it seemed that this year it was the very economic market, typified by the exclusive all-inclusives, that was taking a hit. I'm not sure that Bellevue, only a third or so of it all-inclusive, had a particularly brilliant season either. Yet some other hotels in the same area that were offering half board or self-catering were doing fine thanks very much. Ok, that this was this year, but there is a general feeling that, despite the economic problems, people will still fork out for their annual holiday. The car analogy may not be that appropriate, as the purchase of a new car is something that can be deferred. So, you might say, could a holiday, but there is perhaps less rationality when it comes to buying holidays or not.
There was, though, the evidence in August of hotels that were making special offers; hotels like Molins in Cala San Vicente or the Daina in Puerto Pollensa. I guess you would define these hotels as catering for the middle market, but again one has to be careful with one's classifications. Alcúdia, it might be said, has a strong lower middle-market presence than does Puerto Pollensa, but that lower middle-market is not the budget end, which the professor is saying is one that is likely to grow. From what I understand, bookings within this market for 2009 are pretty good. Right down at the budget end of the market, let's be blunt, the contribution to the wider economy is relatively small, especially if much of this market heads to an all-inclusive. The crucial factor for next year, especially where the British market is concerned, could well be the state of the pound, and the exchange rate against the euro could yet get worse. If the Brit holidaymaker does decide to go ahead with his fortnight in Mallorca and Euroland, there must be some concern as to spend, more so than has been the case over the past two to three years.
One hears calls for bars and restaurants to take account of the exchange rate and to price accordingly. It's all well and good, but why should they? Indeed, how can they? Owners may be well aware of the sinking pound, but they are also aware of their own costs. It would surprise me if one were to find significant price hikes next season, but it would surprise me even more if there were to be reductions. This said, if the Brit holidaymaker has yet to decide on his destination for next year, that exchange rate could yet become the loser in the penalty shoot-out between Mallorca and the likes of Turkey or Croatia.
There is now also the issue of VAT. The two and a half per cent reduction may be designed to stimulate consumer spending, but will it make much of a difference to the holiday decision-making purchase? On a two thousand pound holiday, the element for VAT means that, net, the holiday actually costs a bit over 1700 pounds. With a reduction, the final cost would now make the holiday some 40-odd quid cheaper. An incentive? It would be questionable even if it were true. The VAT calculation is far more complicated than I have just outlined, owing to factors such as the tour operators margin scheme (and don't ask me to try and explain that). If there is any reduction it will not even be in this range, and chances are that it wouldn't be passed on anyway. Forget it.
Nope, the real issue - that shoot-out decider - is the pound in your pocket, or rather the pound in your pocket when it is removed and then presented in exchange for a euro. The problem is that you might get just a euro, or even less. That would be worrying; if it went below one euro that could be the point at which the holidaymaker crosses the psychological barrier, and crosses off Mallorca from his list of destinations. But there again, rational though that might be to do so, who said that the holiday decision was solely a reasoned one; the holidaymaker needs to be given little reason to have that holiday and in Mallorca, despite the state of the pound. The middle market may not grow next year, but it may also not fall. Or am I being irrational in believing so.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Kaiser Chiefs, "Ruby" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMDcOViViNY). Today's title - oh, no apologies, it is Andrea after all. So therefore ...
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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