The calle Major in Alcudia runs from the Plaça Constitució to the Porta Mallorca (Sebastian) gate of the reconstructed city walls. The most notable building along this pedestrianised street is the town hall. Otherwise it is a street with buildings that are superbly preserved in line with protection requirements for the old centre. These are homes, a few bars and some shops - not big shops but small ones that typically sell clothes, accessories and craft-style jewellery.
A few years ago there was a shop close to the gate which was somewhat innovative in what it had for sale. It was the only shop along this part of the street. The owner was always a little concerned by his being the only shop. He felt isolated and a potential target for robbery, especially in the evenings. He no longer needs to have the same concern. There are other shops and his now sells what most of the others do. Innovation didn't bring long-term success.
I mention the street as it is an example of rejuvenation and of how local retailing can develop. The shops are very pleasant. They add to the outstanding atmosphere of Alcudia that has been created through a prolonged period of transformation. But they are also a potential indication of undifferentiated proliferation. How many shops are actually needed which sell - in broad terms - the same sort of thing?
The associations for small to medium-sized retailers, Afedeco and Pimeco, are regular occupants of the press column inches. They come as a pair, usually agreeing with each other. The agreement tends to always be negative. The latest is that despite increased tourist numbers the spending is down. This isn't a new theme. It has been echoed down the years. And if it's not summertime selling, then it is the winter. The associations point to factors such as the liberalisation of the sales period in explaining decreases in members' turnover.
Local and traditional retailers are the ones defended by these associations. Advancing the cause of local traders is very much a government policy. It is also of interest to town halls: Alcudia, for example, has recently conducted a survey of local shopping habits. Yet where is it leading? There was a recent report which revealed that the number of businesses in Mallorca - ones active this summer - was back to a level similar to that of pre-crisis. The growth in businesses was overwhelmingly of the small business variety. Shops accounted for a good deal of the growth.
There are more tourists than ever before, certainly more than in the years immediately prior to the economic crisis. But was the situation with the smaller retailer markedly different? I would suggest that it wasn't. Coming back to Alcudia, I well recall a letter from the late Graham Philips that appeared in the Bulletin. There was little that Graham didn't know about business in the town; he had been involved right from the beginnings of the sale of properties in the City of Lakes at the turn of the 1970s. The point he made in that letter had to do with the proliferation of units that could be used as shops, bars or some other business, such as an estate agency. There were simply too many of them, and when they were occupied the businesses generally struggled.
Afedeco and Pimeco point, as everyone else does, to the increased number of tourists staying in holiday rentals. Logic suggests that this type of tourism is a boost to local business. It is, but it can depend on what type of business. In Palma the federation of residents associations is even less reticent in getting its name into the press. When it comes to rentals, about which the federation has had a great deal to say, it points out that the "gentrification" of the city - brought about by rentals - has led to the loss of the traditional, local business. It is being replaced by souvenir shops, ice-cream parlours and franchises, and these franchises are also identified by traditional cafés for their being squeezed.
Rentals tourism does benefit the so-called complementary (non-hotel) sector. The greatest beneficiary is arguably the supermarket retail sector. The Spanish association of supermarkets issued a report the other day in which it stated that supermarket sales in Mallorca this summer have trebled. It also made the point that in certain tourist areas a third of all shops are supermarkets, be these the national or multinational retailers, the Spars or others. We haven't heard as yet from the large retailers' association, but one suspects that the likes of El Corte Inglés will offer a different perspective to that offered by Afedeco and Pimeco.
Local is good, local is to be encouraged, but when one hears of lower spending, might the number of businesses be a contributory factor? What spending there is can be spread very widely and perhaps too thinly.
Showing posts with label Tourist spend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tourist spend. Show all posts
Saturday, September 02, 2017
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Justin Bieber And Can Picafort
Steady. Don't get excited. Not that you probably were getting excited. A year or two ago maybe, but not now. Justin Bieber, teen moppet turned bad boy, just doesn't raise the excitement in the way he did. But then who knows, maybe he'll prove to be the male Britney Spears, re-emerging on the other side after a time in the darkness. It was never like this in David Cassidy's day.
In case you were wondering, Bieber isn't in Can Picafort and has never been in Can Picafort. But his image is. I was looking at it the other day. It was staring back at me from a display near the entrance to a perfumery. I know the owner well. Is Bieber selling? Not this summer, she replied. Last summer yes, but not now. It's all about the image, I supposed. Becoming a bad boy doesn't do much for the Bieber perfume range. She agreed, though there is always the other factor. The less-than-X factor for a place like Can Picafort. Tourist spend has evaporated into the hot air over a summertime resort that has become All-Inclusive Central.
I enjoy my towards-the-end-of-the-season chats with the perfumery owner. Enjoy because she's a lovely lady, but enjoy is not really the right word. It's enjoyment through her honesty, and the honesty of her impressions of Can Picafort is not terribly positive. It is an honesty that has been characterised by a declining positivity as the years have passed, but she keeps retaining her optimism and her business sense. Among perfumeries which, let's face it, can all seem like much of a muchness, she puts herself out there, advertising, keeping going. Hers is the only perfumery I know of in the area that makes such an effort.
With Bieber in decline, what have been the big-sellers this season, I wonder. There haven't been any. Not in the sense of there having been what she calls a "boom" range. The solid, classic brands sell well enough, Dior, Chanel, Paco Rabanne, Dolce & Gabbana. The last real boom was the Paco Rabanne One Million range. It sold on the back of excellent advertising. She reckons there wasn't a household on Mallorca that didn't have a One Million of some sort. Strange in a way. We both agree that the packaging is not the most tasteful you'll ever see.
But this is a perfumery (two in fact) on the main drag in Can Picafort, the one that runs behind the narrow promenade frontline, where mostly tourists would be customers, wouldn't they be? Yes and no. Without the trade from the locals, it would be hard to survive, I'm guessing, as it would be for the other shops. And shops is about all you see. I hadn't appreciated until she told me that there are now virtually no cafes along the road, the victims of all-inclusive. Paris disappeared a year or so back; it's now a fashion shop. It was once almost synonymous with Can Picafort.
Yet, the replacement by shops hasn't changed the dynamic. Time was, a few years ago, when the perfumery would have been packed around eight in the evening during the summer. Not now.
Perfume is of course a discretionary purchase for the tourist. But then it always was. And more or less anything else that a tourist buys is discretionary, including a beer in a bar or a meal in a restaurant. Tourists have to eat and drink, but they have other options - the supermarkets or more likely the all-inclusive. You tend not to hear as much about how the shift in the tourism market has affected the retail sector as you do about its impact on bars and restaurants or attractions, the ones who shout louder and make their voices heard more. Sure, you hear from the large retailers, like the supermarket multiples, but little from the small businesses. They suffer in a more silent way.
The double-whammy of reduced spend and the rise of the all-inclusive is so familiar a theme that it seems to almost no longer warrant mentioning. But mention has to continue if only to ask where we are heading: where a resort like Can Picafort is heading. My perfumery owner, ever looking for reasons to be optimistic, tells me that one of the better-known all-inclusives in town is separating off part of the hotel and creating a hotel within a hotel. It won't be all-inclusive. It will be for a better type of tourist, a euphemism for one who spends money. Perhaps others will follow, but even if they do, will they only nibble away at the edges of a frayed resort that faces such future uncertainty? Can Picafort needs a boom. It needs a Bieber, but one that doesn't go bad.
In case you were wondering, Bieber isn't in Can Picafort and has never been in Can Picafort. But his image is. I was looking at it the other day. It was staring back at me from a display near the entrance to a perfumery. I know the owner well. Is Bieber selling? Not this summer, she replied. Last summer yes, but not now. It's all about the image, I supposed. Becoming a bad boy doesn't do much for the Bieber perfume range. She agreed, though there is always the other factor. The less-than-X factor for a place like Can Picafort. Tourist spend has evaporated into the hot air over a summertime resort that has become All-Inclusive Central.
I enjoy my towards-the-end-of-the-season chats with the perfumery owner. Enjoy because she's a lovely lady, but enjoy is not really the right word. It's enjoyment through her honesty, and the honesty of her impressions of Can Picafort is not terribly positive. It is an honesty that has been characterised by a declining positivity as the years have passed, but she keeps retaining her optimism and her business sense. Among perfumeries which, let's face it, can all seem like much of a muchness, she puts herself out there, advertising, keeping going. Hers is the only perfumery I know of in the area that makes such an effort.
With Bieber in decline, what have been the big-sellers this season, I wonder. There haven't been any. Not in the sense of there having been what she calls a "boom" range. The solid, classic brands sell well enough, Dior, Chanel, Paco Rabanne, Dolce & Gabbana. The last real boom was the Paco Rabanne One Million range. It sold on the back of excellent advertising. She reckons there wasn't a household on Mallorca that didn't have a One Million of some sort. Strange in a way. We both agree that the packaging is not the most tasteful you'll ever see.
But this is a perfumery (two in fact) on the main drag in Can Picafort, the one that runs behind the narrow promenade frontline, where mostly tourists would be customers, wouldn't they be? Yes and no. Without the trade from the locals, it would be hard to survive, I'm guessing, as it would be for the other shops. And shops is about all you see. I hadn't appreciated until she told me that there are now virtually no cafes along the road, the victims of all-inclusive. Paris disappeared a year or so back; it's now a fashion shop. It was once almost synonymous with Can Picafort.
Yet, the replacement by shops hasn't changed the dynamic. Time was, a few years ago, when the perfumery would have been packed around eight in the evening during the summer. Not now.
Perfume is of course a discretionary purchase for the tourist. But then it always was. And more or less anything else that a tourist buys is discretionary, including a beer in a bar or a meal in a restaurant. Tourists have to eat and drink, but they have other options - the supermarkets or more likely the all-inclusive. You tend not to hear as much about how the shift in the tourism market has affected the retail sector as you do about its impact on bars and restaurants or attractions, the ones who shout louder and make their voices heard more. Sure, you hear from the large retailers, like the supermarket multiples, but little from the small businesses. They suffer in a more silent way.
The double-whammy of reduced spend and the rise of the all-inclusive is so familiar a theme that it seems to almost no longer warrant mentioning. But mention has to continue if only to ask where we are heading: where a resort like Can Picafort is heading. My perfumery owner, ever looking for reasons to be optimistic, tells me that one of the better-known all-inclusives in town is separating off part of the hotel and creating a hotel within a hotel. It won't be all-inclusive. It will be for a better type of tourist, a euphemism for one who spends money. Perhaps others will follow, but even if they do, will they only nibble away at the edges of a frayed resort that faces such future uncertainty? Can Picafort needs a boom. It needs a Bieber, but one that doesn't go bad.
Friday, September 26, 2014
The Worry Of A Fall In Tourist Spend
Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, is not someone you would necessarily expect to crop up in a tourism article, but what he said earlier this week merits that he does. Draghi suggested earlier this week that recovery in the Eurozone was losing impetus, pointing to a stalling of growth during the second quarter and to indicators through the summer which have been weaker than expected. This economic performance cannot of course solely be attributed to activity in the tourism sector, but tourism does play a key role in measuring this performance.
Questions are often asked about the tourism spend statistics which get trotted out with monotonous regularity and which, for many, appear to bear little relationship with evidence on the streets and terraces of Mallorca's resorts. These statistics are far from perfect, but it needs to be remembered that their principal function is one determined by the Bank of Spain and, by association, the Central Bank and European institutions. They feed into economic performance measures, and so when, as was the case in July this year, Spain shows a slight fall in tourism spend (1.3%), there is cause for a few eyebrows to be raised and for foreheads to be furrowed.
This fall in expenditure seems odd because the number of tourists has been at record levels, as they have been in Mallorca. So, how does one explain the decrease? The simple answer is that tourists are spending less, but this isn't only because tourists are being more careful with their money while on holiday. They are also staying for shorter periods. Overnight stays for July and August combined rose by only 0.2% (a figure for Spain as a whole). When tourist arrivals increase by almost 9% (as they did in August) but overnight stays barely increase at all, you get what is in fact the situation. There is simultaneously a mini-boom in the number of tourists and a contraction in tourist expenditure. And it is this contraction that concerns Draghi and should also concern the national government in Spain and the regional government in the Balearics.
The announcement by Spanish finance minister Cristóbal Montoro of some relaxations in the pipeline on tax has been very welcome, and in the context of tourism, these may well filter through to the domestic market, which has already shown good signs of recovery this summer and which has been helping to fill the void left by a significant fall in Mallorca's Russian market. But Spain can't affect the expenditure of tourists from other countries. Draghi is calling for "unconventional measures" to counteract a lack of credit, and it would certainly appear to be the case that unless there is more credit (and more employment) in the Eurozone (and the UK) the contraction in tourist expenditure will continue, thus producing an unwelcome cycle which might ruin some of the good work the Rajoy administration has been doing. In addition, there is the Russian question. This market, hampered by obvious events, by sanctions and by the exchange rate, is enduring a genuine crisis, reflected by the numerous bankruptcies of Russian tour operators, many of which were not on a firm financial footing anyway. The bankruptcies will only help to further deter Russian tourism to the island and to Spain, and with everything else occurring in Russia and Ukraine, next summer is looking distinctly uncertain.
So, there is a double whammy of what had been a rapidly growing market being in crisis and of expenditure contraction in stable, long-established markets. Record numbers of tourists might sound all well and good, but records or not, there are some serious questions to be asked about next summer.
Questions are often asked about the tourism spend statistics which get trotted out with monotonous regularity and which, for many, appear to bear little relationship with evidence on the streets and terraces of Mallorca's resorts. These statistics are far from perfect, but it needs to be remembered that their principal function is one determined by the Bank of Spain and, by association, the Central Bank and European institutions. They feed into economic performance measures, and so when, as was the case in July this year, Spain shows a slight fall in tourism spend (1.3%), there is cause for a few eyebrows to be raised and for foreheads to be furrowed.
This fall in expenditure seems odd because the number of tourists has been at record levels, as they have been in Mallorca. So, how does one explain the decrease? The simple answer is that tourists are spending less, but this isn't only because tourists are being more careful with their money while on holiday. They are also staying for shorter periods. Overnight stays for July and August combined rose by only 0.2% (a figure for Spain as a whole). When tourist arrivals increase by almost 9% (as they did in August) but overnight stays barely increase at all, you get what is in fact the situation. There is simultaneously a mini-boom in the number of tourists and a contraction in tourist expenditure. And it is this contraction that concerns Draghi and should also concern the national government in Spain and the regional government in the Balearics.
The announcement by Spanish finance minister Cristóbal Montoro of some relaxations in the pipeline on tax has been very welcome, and in the context of tourism, these may well filter through to the domestic market, which has already shown good signs of recovery this summer and which has been helping to fill the void left by a significant fall in Mallorca's Russian market. But Spain can't affect the expenditure of tourists from other countries. Draghi is calling for "unconventional measures" to counteract a lack of credit, and it would certainly appear to be the case that unless there is more credit (and more employment) in the Eurozone (and the UK) the contraction in tourist expenditure will continue, thus producing an unwelcome cycle which might ruin some of the good work the Rajoy administration has been doing. In addition, there is the Russian question. This market, hampered by obvious events, by sanctions and by the exchange rate, is enduring a genuine crisis, reflected by the numerous bankruptcies of Russian tour operators, many of which were not on a firm financial footing anyway. The bankruptcies will only help to further deter Russian tourism to the island and to Spain, and with everything else occurring in Russia and Ukraine, next summer is looking distinctly uncertain.
So, there is a double whammy of what had been a rapidly growing market being in crisis and of expenditure contraction in stable, long-established markets. Record numbers of tourists might sound all well and good, but records or not, there are some serious questions to be asked about next summer.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Road To Ruin
Proof, if it were needed, and really it wasn't, that the season has misfired comes in the form of a report from the organisation for small to medium-sized businesses. Revenue down by as much as 25% for bars and restaurants, even during the height of summer. Of course, one never really knows with these stats and percentages; there was another report recently which indicated that tourist spend had been up. Common sense suggests that the fall is more representative, though it doesn't tell the full story as there are places I know for a fact that have enjoyed increases this season. Nevertheless, the figures don't surprise, and it is not only the bar and restaurant trade that has endured a hard year; the sea-based businesses have also seen a slump. I know of one that reports about a 30% decrease. Messing about on the sea is an optional extra at the best of times; at the worst of times it ceases to be an option.
Elsewhere, reps are being allowed to go home early as there simply aren't the people, and from next year there is to be a trimming of rep staff for the season as a whole; at least, that's the word coming out of First Choice mouths. This is not necessarily a reaction to economic circumstances, though they may hasten a strategy for more remote forms of guest assistance, one which I heard that TUI had in mind. Phone services, be they helplines or via mobile phones, are likely to be the de-personalised reps of the future.
Reps may get a bad press, but they are far from all bad. One of their problems is a lack of information, something I referred to recently in respect of the rep giving the wrong advice for a bus to Palma. But how much information can they truly be expected to assimilate if they don't know a resort? There may be the resort "bibles" for them to digest and learn on arrival, but - as with anything - if you don't use what you learn, you forget it. Reps that come back for the following year may find themselves allocated to a different resort. Where's the sense in that? They have to do the learning all over again for somewhere else. However, in future it is likely that there will be fewer of them. Bad press or not, I would reckon most tourists prefer the personal touch, even if it is misinformed. Rather than turning to the telecoms services, chances are the guests will rely more on hotel receptions, which may not be what hotel receptions want to hear. And somehow I can't see some old dears needing a chemist texting a request for information.
BANKING CRISIS
The banking crisis continues its claim on victims and now it has branched out from its epicentre of Anglo-Saxon capitalism; a Belgian bank does not fall into this category. The Spanish bank, Santander, is a white knight for a British bank, which all sounds as though the Spanish system is bearing up where others aren't. Up to a point, this is the case. Spanish banks, for example, didn't have great exposure to Lehman's, but loss of confidence knows few boundaries, be it among consumers or financial markets. The real danger for Spain lies with its debt; the country ranks alongside the UK in this regard, and much of this debt is the result of reckless mortgage lending. There is also a concern regarding Spain's reserves, which the Bank of Spain sold off to finance the country's current account deficit, meaning that that if there were to be a banking crisis, the national bank might be stretched as the lender of last resort, notwithstanding Spain's place within the European monetary system. Recently, the head of the Sa Nostra bank on the island offered reassurances that the financial sector was strong, but there have been plenty of mumblings to the contrary. Spanish banks may not have had the buffeting of those in the UK or the US, but don't be sure that they won't. This sucker may not be going down, or anything like it, but this sucker could yet get sucked. The perversity of the House of Representatives' vote is only likely to add to the potential for collapse in countries and banks as yet unaffected, though surely to God they will reverse this vote.
PUERTO POLLENSA PEDESTRIANISATION
Well, it's started - as of yesterday. After all the uncertainty as to what would be pedestrianised and when, the first phase of the trial sees a closure between the calles Elcano and Temple Fielding; the part from Temple Fielding to the Avenida Paris appears to still be open in the Alcúdia direction. Buses can still use the road, but taxi drivers cannot and there is also some question as to use by the Guardia Civil whose local HQ, it should not be forgotten, is right by the Avenida Paris. Makes one wonder - did they talk to the Guardia and the police about all this?
THE UM MINISTERIAL ISSUE
The head of the Unió Mallorquina, Miquel Nadal, has come to the aid of the party. He will replace Francesc Buils as tourism minister. So I am sure we are all relieved at this news.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Re-Flex. Today's title - this was an album by one of the greats of British folk music.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Index for September 2008
Alcúdia Fair 2008 - 20 September 2008, 22 September 2008
Animal welfare - 10 September 2008, 28 September 2008
Architecture - 13 September 2008
Balearic Government - 18 September 2008, 29 September 2008
Banks - 30 September 2008
Bars - 17 September 2008
Binissalem - 20 September 2008, 22 September 2008
Blogs - 11 September 2008
Catalan - 12 September 2008
Climate change - 20 September 2008
Debt - 9 September 2008
Driving licences - 22 September 2008, 23 September 2008
Economic crisis - 18 September 2008, 28 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Expatriates - 23 September 2008
Fairs - 15 September 2008, 20 September 2008, 28 September 2008
Feria del Mar 2008 - 15 September 2008
Fines - 26 September 2008
Flags - 1 September 2008
Flies - 5 September 2008
Football - 3 September 2008, 6 September 2008, 10 September 2008
Franco - 1 September 2008, 7 September 2008
Hills - 21 September 2008
Hotels - 3 September 2008, 16 September 2008, 22 September 2008, 28 September 2008
Iberian ham - 22 September 2008
Immigration - 8 September 2008
Integration - 23 September 2008
Languages - 12 September 2008, 14 September 2008
Mallorcans - 27 September 2008
Media - 23 September 2008
Mountains - 21 September 2008
Open-water swimming - 2 September 2008
Pedestrianisation - 11 September 2008, 14 September 2008, 24 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Pickpocketing - 2 September 2008
Political parties - 29 September 2008
Pollensa town hall - 6 September 2008
Processionary caterpillars - 5 September 2008
Property market - 3 September 2008
Railways - 13 September 2008
Ramón Llull - 12 September 2008
Real Mallorca - 3 September 2008, 6 September 2008, 10 September 2008
Reps - 17 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Road signs - 11 September 2008
Roads - 11 September 2008, 14 September 2008, 18 September 2008, 19 September 2008, 24 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Schools - 14 September 2008
Scratch cards - 8 September 2008
Seasonal workers - 17 September 2008
Show cooking - 15 September 2008
Small town mentality - 27 September 2008
Social tourism - 5 September 2008
Son Real - 6 September 2008
Storms - 12 September 2008, 14 September 2008
Street drinking - 26 September 2008
Street names - 7 September 2008
Street selling - 25 September 2008, 26 September 2008
Sunwing Resort - 16 September 2008
Tour operators - 12 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Tourist behaviour - 16 September 2008
Tourist days - 11 September 2008, 15 September 2008
Tourist spend - 30 September 2008
Town halls - 6 September 2008, 19 September 2008
Trains - 13 September 2008
Unemployment - 3 September 2008
Unió Mallorquina - 29 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Vermar 2008 - 20 September 2008
Violence - 15 September 2008
Walls - 4 September 2008
WiFi - 1 September 2008
Wine - 20 September 2008
Winter tourism - 5 September 2008, 25 September 2008
XL Leisure Group - 12 September 2008
Young adults - 9 September 2008
Elsewhere, reps are being allowed to go home early as there simply aren't the people, and from next year there is to be a trimming of rep staff for the season as a whole; at least, that's the word coming out of First Choice mouths. This is not necessarily a reaction to economic circumstances, though they may hasten a strategy for more remote forms of guest assistance, one which I heard that TUI had in mind. Phone services, be they helplines or via mobile phones, are likely to be the de-personalised reps of the future.
Reps may get a bad press, but they are far from all bad. One of their problems is a lack of information, something I referred to recently in respect of the rep giving the wrong advice for a bus to Palma. But how much information can they truly be expected to assimilate if they don't know a resort? There may be the resort "bibles" for them to digest and learn on arrival, but - as with anything - if you don't use what you learn, you forget it. Reps that come back for the following year may find themselves allocated to a different resort. Where's the sense in that? They have to do the learning all over again for somewhere else. However, in future it is likely that there will be fewer of them. Bad press or not, I would reckon most tourists prefer the personal touch, even if it is misinformed. Rather than turning to the telecoms services, chances are the guests will rely more on hotel receptions, which may not be what hotel receptions want to hear. And somehow I can't see some old dears needing a chemist texting a request for information.
BANKING CRISIS
The banking crisis continues its claim on victims and now it has branched out from its epicentre of Anglo-Saxon capitalism; a Belgian bank does not fall into this category. The Spanish bank, Santander, is a white knight for a British bank, which all sounds as though the Spanish system is bearing up where others aren't. Up to a point, this is the case. Spanish banks, for example, didn't have great exposure to Lehman's, but loss of confidence knows few boundaries, be it among consumers or financial markets. The real danger for Spain lies with its debt; the country ranks alongside the UK in this regard, and much of this debt is the result of reckless mortgage lending. There is also a concern regarding Spain's reserves, which the Bank of Spain sold off to finance the country's current account deficit, meaning that that if there were to be a banking crisis, the national bank might be stretched as the lender of last resort, notwithstanding Spain's place within the European monetary system. Recently, the head of the Sa Nostra bank on the island offered reassurances that the financial sector was strong, but there have been plenty of mumblings to the contrary. Spanish banks may not have had the buffeting of those in the UK or the US, but don't be sure that they won't. This sucker may not be going down, or anything like it, but this sucker could yet get sucked. The perversity of the House of Representatives' vote is only likely to add to the potential for collapse in countries and banks as yet unaffected, though surely to God they will reverse this vote.
PUERTO POLLENSA PEDESTRIANISATION
Well, it's started - as of yesterday. After all the uncertainty as to what would be pedestrianised and when, the first phase of the trial sees a closure between the calles Elcano and Temple Fielding; the part from Temple Fielding to the Avenida Paris appears to still be open in the Alcúdia direction. Buses can still use the road, but taxi drivers cannot and there is also some question as to use by the Guardia Civil whose local HQ, it should not be forgotten, is right by the Avenida Paris. Makes one wonder - did they talk to the Guardia and the police about all this?
THE UM MINISTERIAL ISSUE
The head of the Unió Mallorquina, Miquel Nadal, has come to the aid of the party. He will replace Francesc Buils as tourism minister. So I am sure we are all relieved at this news.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Re-Flex. Today's title - this was an album by one of the greats of British folk music.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Index for September 2008
Alcúdia Fair 2008 - 20 September 2008, 22 September 2008
Animal welfare - 10 September 2008, 28 September 2008
Architecture - 13 September 2008
Balearic Government - 18 September 2008, 29 September 2008
Banks - 30 September 2008
Bars - 17 September 2008
Binissalem - 20 September 2008, 22 September 2008
Blogs - 11 September 2008
Catalan - 12 September 2008
Climate change - 20 September 2008
Debt - 9 September 2008
Driving licences - 22 September 2008, 23 September 2008
Economic crisis - 18 September 2008, 28 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Expatriates - 23 September 2008
Fairs - 15 September 2008, 20 September 2008, 28 September 2008
Feria del Mar 2008 - 15 September 2008
Fines - 26 September 2008
Flags - 1 September 2008
Flies - 5 September 2008
Football - 3 September 2008, 6 September 2008, 10 September 2008
Franco - 1 September 2008, 7 September 2008
Hills - 21 September 2008
Hotels - 3 September 2008, 16 September 2008, 22 September 2008, 28 September 2008
Iberian ham - 22 September 2008
Immigration - 8 September 2008
Integration - 23 September 2008
Languages - 12 September 2008, 14 September 2008
Mallorcans - 27 September 2008
Media - 23 September 2008
Mountains - 21 September 2008
Open-water swimming - 2 September 2008
Pedestrianisation - 11 September 2008, 14 September 2008, 24 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Pickpocketing - 2 September 2008
Political parties - 29 September 2008
Pollensa town hall - 6 September 2008
Processionary caterpillars - 5 September 2008
Property market - 3 September 2008
Railways - 13 September 2008
Ramón Llull - 12 September 2008
Real Mallorca - 3 September 2008, 6 September 2008, 10 September 2008
Reps - 17 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Road signs - 11 September 2008
Roads - 11 September 2008, 14 September 2008, 18 September 2008, 19 September 2008, 24 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Schools - 14 September 2008
Scratch cards - 8 September 2008
Seasonal workers - 17 September 2008
Show cooking - 15 September 2008
Small town mentality - 27 September 2008
Social tourism - 5 September 2008
Son Real - 6 September 2008
Storms - 12 September 2008, 14 September 2008
Street drinking - 26 September 2008
Street names - 7 September 2008
Street selling - 25 September 2008, 26 September 2008
Sunwing Resort - 16 September 2008
Tour operators - 12 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Tourist behaviour - 16 September 2008
Tourist days - 11 September 2008, 15 September 2008
Tourist spend - 30 September 2008
Town halls - 6 September 2008, 19 September 2008
Trains - 13 September 2008
Unemployment - 3 September 2008
Unió Mallorquina - 29 September 2008, 30 September 2008
Vermar 2008 - 20 September 2008
Violence - 15 September 2008
Walls - 4 September 2008
WiFi - 1 September 2008
Wine - 20 September 2008
Winter tourism - 5 September 2008, 25 September 2008
XL Leisure Group - 12 September 2008
Young adults - 9 September 2008
Monday, August 04, 2008
Down, Down, Deeper And Down
It seems that barely a day cannot pass without some report or other stating that sales are well down. There was that one not so long ago that spoke about turnover in souvenir and jewellery stores being down some 60%. Then there are the bars and restaurants ... Across the board, according to the restaurant associations of two business groupings, there has been a 20% fall; in the tourist areas it is greater. The summer's difficulties have led, in some instances, to a shortening of opening hours and even to some places not opening at all. Two resorts that have been notable for this are Alcúdia and Can Picafort, says a spokesperson for the PIMEM association.
Anecdote is not always reliable, but there is plenty of it knocking around to back up the figures, and not just in Alcúdia or Can Pic. One restaurant in the old town of Pollensa spoke of 30%; that's a number I've been given elsewhere. Off The Mile in Alcúdia there is another restaurant which cites - in effect - a 50% decline. Yet there are always exceptions. In Puerto Pollensa one bar-owner was asked about how the "crisis" is affecting his bar. What crisis was the reply. This bar is enjoying increased sales. In Puerto Alcúdia one bar away from The Mile is at least holding its own against previous years. It benefits from the fact that people from The Mile are willing to tramp up to it as it has plenty of people in it. One thing the punter does not want is to sit in a bar on his or her own. When you have a mass of bars as you do along The Mile, the danger is that the punter is spread too thin. In the good times it is not an issue, but these are not good times.
There is a sense in which we are arriving at the tipping point. It is not as though there have not been previous periods of downturn; the early '90s was one such. You will hear the whistling to keep up spirits of a couple of years and it will all be back to where it was. I'm not so sure. The previous downturns did not have the proliferation of all-inclusives to contend with; in the early '90s the euro was still just a fantasy of politicians. One can add in factors such as greater restrictions on bars and ever higher costs.
It is not too soon to start looking ahead to 2009. If the pound remains weak against the euro, one does wonder as to the British holidaymaker. Ditto the problems with the credit crunch. The British tourist is of course just one from many nations. For some, such as the Scandinavians and the Irish, Mallorca can still represent pretty good value for money, but the British (and their spend) are vital. The fact also is that a lowering in spend was an observable trend before the current economic problems.
Something, you feel, is going to have to give.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum ... Today's title - who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Anecdote is not always reliable, but there is plenty of it knocking around to back up the figures, and not just in Alcúdia or Can Pic. One restaurant in the old town of Pollensa spoke of 30%; that's a number I've been given elsewhere. Off The Mile in Alcúdia there is another restaurant which cites - in effect - a 50% decline. Yet there are always exceptions. In Puerto Pollensa one bar-owner was asked about how the "crisis" is affecting his bar. What crisis was the reply. This bar is enjoying increased sales. In Puerto Alcúdia one bar away from The Mile is at least holding its own against previous years. It benefits from the fact that people from The Mile are willing to tramp up to it as it has plenty of people in it. One thing the punter does not want is to sit in a bar on his or her own. When you have a mass of bars as you do along The Mile, the danger is that the punter is spread too thin. In the good times it is not an issue, but these are not good times.
There is a sense in which we are arriving at the tipping point. It is not as though there have not been previous periods of downturn; the early '90s was one such. You will hear the whistling to keep up spirits of a couple of years and it will all be back to where it was. I'm not so sure. The previous downturns did not have the proliferation of all-inclusives to contend with; in the early '90s the euro was still just a fantasy of politicians. One can add in factors such as greater restrictions on bars and ever higher costs.
It is not too soon to start looking ahead to 2009. If the pound remains weak against the euro, one does wonder as to the British holidaymaker. Ditto the problems with the credit crunch. The British tourist is of course just one from many nations. For some, such as the Scandinavians and the Irish, Mallorca can still represent pretty good value for money, but the British (and their spend) are vital. The fact also is that a lowering in spend was an observable trend before the current economic problems.
Something, you feel, is going to have to give.
QUIZ
Yesterday's title - Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum ... Today's title - who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Forever Changes
More on hotels. There are, from time to time, the bugles of the changing of the nationality guard at certain hotels. Three years ago, the restaurants of Can Picafort were ordering more cash registers in anticipation of increased Anglicisation of some of the vast hotel stock in the town. The Germans, they said, who had committed sunbedsraum in colonising Can Picafort some years previously, were retreating and taking their closed wallets with them. I don’t know that it made much difference to Can Picafort, though it is fair to say that the town is still host, in addition to more British, to a German market that might be characterised as being more Ostmark as opposed to D-mark, even if the current visitors don’t necessarily come from the eastern part. A front-line restaurant owner said to me last year that the general level of tourism in the town was “cheap”. I won’t mention the restaurant’s name.
Nationalities get branded according to their willingness to part with folded notes. The British, usually, are looked upon as being the most generous, the Germans as being tight and the Spaniards as letting one cup of coffee last for several hours. It’s a nonsensical generalisation of course, and has everything to do with differences in resorts and also hotels. In Alcúdia, the British are not always believed to be big spenders. Those in the all-inclusive Club Mac ghetto or in the all-inclusivised part of Bellevue have little incentive to spend, and, in many cases, they don’t have the money to spend either.
And then one comes to the Scandinavians. Last year, it was being said that it was Baltic euros and kroner that were keeping much of Alcúdia from penury. An exaggeration of course, but the Swedes and the rest tend to be good spenders. The mystery is that the Swedes are not drunk from the moment they leave the plane till the moment they leave, given that a night out on the booze in Stockholm or somewhere costs about the same as the annual GDP of a small African country. The nationality one tends to hear little of is the Dutch, who, apart from a reputation for being, well Dutch, rarely get mentioned when it comes to the European spending league. But they are all the size of rugby lock forwards, so one presumes that a fair amount of nosebag and watering is required to keep them sufficiently fuelled, which means goodly amounts of moolah.
But where was I? Ah yes, hotels. The Swedes and their neighbours have, over the years, turned the Sunwing Resort in Puerto Alcúdia into a Nordic zone of disgustingly healthy-looking blondness. In so doing, they nabbed for themselves one of the best locations for hotels and apartments in the area – slap bang on the beach, halfway from the port and halfway from the noise of The Mile. They couldn’t have planned it better. Some poor Brit, suitably impressed by the potential of a holiday there, contacted me last year, bemoaning the fact that the Sunwing website was not available in English. The reason why it was not was because they didn’t have any British clients. All sewn up by the Scanda tour operators. Well seemingly, this may be about to change as one of the two Sunwing hotels, the four-star Princesa, is due to go British following this winter’s major refurbishment, which will be good news for the British previously barred through the Scandinavian apartheid and will still be good news for the local hostelries as they should bring with them a minted tourism comparable to the Baltic spend.
While Sunwing becomes more cosmopolitan, another place is set to take, possibly, the dispossessed Scandinavians of the Princesa. I say possibly, as the Solecito Apartments, opposite the Club Mac, are hardly the same deal as Sunwing. But the apartments are, apparently, going Scandinavian and Dutch (quite how the Dutch get in on this I’m not sure, but be that as it may). This part of Alcúdia is pretty much solid Brit. Now the Solecito is not exactly huge, but for the bars there, used to serving up a diet of the full English and burgers, maybe they will have to invest in some raw herrings and smorgasbord. And my guess is that the new demographics might just mean higher spend, but perhaps I am over-generalising.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Carly Simon. Today’s title – one of the greatest albums of the ‘60s; American group and they were?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Nationalities get branded according to their willingness to part with folded notes. The British, usually, are looked upon as being the most generous, the Germans as being tight and the Spaniards as letting one cup of coffee last for several hours. It’s a nonsensical generalisation of course, and has everything to do with differences in resorts and also hotels. In Alcúdia, the British are not always believed to be big spenders. Those in the all-inclusive Club Mac ghetto or in the all-inclusivised part of Bellevue have little incentive to spend, and, in many cases, they don’t have the money to spend either.
And then one comes to the Scandinavians. Last year, it was being said that it was Baltic euros and kroner that were keeping much of Alcúdia from penury. An exaggeration of course, but the Swedes and the rest tend to be good spenders. The mystery is that the Swedes are not drunk from the moment they leave the plane till the moment they leave, given that a night out on the booze in Stockholm or somewhere costs about the same as the annual GDP of a small African country. The nationality one tends to hear little of is the Dutch, who, apart from a reputation for being, well Dutch, rarely get mentioned when it comes to the European spending league. But they are all the size of rugby lock forwards, so one presumes that a fair amount of nosebag and watering is required to keep them sufficiently fuelled, which means goodly amounts of moolah.
But where was I? Ah yes, hotels. The Swedes and their neighbours have, over the years, turned the Sunwing Resort in Puerto Alcúdia into a Nordic zone of disgustingly healthy-looking blondness. In so doing, they nabbed for themselves one of the best locations for hotels and apartments in the area – slap bang on the beach, halfway from the port and halfway from the noise of The Mile. They couldn’t have planned it better. Some poor Brit, suitably impressed by the potential of a holiday there, contacted me last year, bemoaning the fact that the Sunwing website was not available in English. The reason why it was not was because they didn’t have any British clients. All sewn up by the Scanda tour operators. Well seemingly, this may be about to change as one of the two Sunwing hotels, the four-star Princesa, is due to go British following this winter’s major refurbishment, which will be good news for the British previously barred through the Scandinavian apartheid and will still be good news for the local hostelries as they should bring with them a minted tourism comparable to the Baltic spend.
While Sunwing becomes more cosmopolitan, another place is set to take, possibly, the dispossessed Scandinavians of the Princesa. I say possibly, as the Solecito Apartments, opposite the Club Mac, are hardly the same deal as Sunwing. But the apartments are, apparently, going Scandinavian and Dutch (quite how the Dutch get in on this I’m not sure, but be that as it may). This part of Alcúdia is pretty much solid Brit. Now the Solecito is not exactly huge, but for the bars there, used to serving up a diet of the full English and burgers, maybe they will have to invest in some raw herrings and smorgasbord. And my guess is that the new demographics might just mean higher spend, but perhaps I am over-generalising.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Carly Simon. Today’s title – one of the greatest albums of the ‘60s; American group and they were?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Oh Boy!
The problem with the cyclists is that they don’t contribute anything to the local bars and restaurants.
As a couple of hotels in Playa de Muro prepare to open their doors to the cycling season’s lycra intake, so the above complaint will be heard above the sounds of car horns urging the pelatons off the road. These cyclists, all hale and hearty, watered and fed only on sports drinks and bananas, eschewing the calorific and arterial bombardment of beer and beef, spending nary a euro at the local hostelry. There may well be some who are tucked up by nine o’clock, sending themselves off to sleep with a study of the following day’s hundreds of kilometre route map, but there are plenty who are not.
A lot of the cyclists are German. Germany was built on beer and meat, as were most of the cyclists. It is wrong to suggest that they do not frequent the bars and restaurants and are not capable of demolishing the side of a cow and vacuuming up a barrel of lager. Or rather, it may be a correct impression if you don’t know how to attract them.
There are few places open in Playa de Muro during the late winter. But one restaurant that will be opening in February is Boy. Notwithstanding its potentially misunderstood name, Boy (the name was adopted as a translation of “chico”) has made itself a restaurant of choice for the cyclist. It helps that Juan Antonio himself is a keen user of two wheels, but that’s just a part of the story. The restaurant has forged a strong relationship not only with the springtime cycling fraternity but also with Max Huerzler who organises much of the cycling tourism.
Where others might ignore or moan about the value of this early tourism, Boy has turned it into an advantage. I think it’s known as running a business. And they have extended their own business by a couple of months by getting close to the cyclist market.
So when others are complaining, take a look at the terrace at Restaurant Boy on a sunny February late afternoon or early evening. All that lycra may not be to everyone’s taste, but all that lycra does indeed go to restaurants and does indeed spend money.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Grange Hill. Today’s title – one for those with long memories, this was a television pop show produced by whom?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
As a couple of hotels in Playa de Muro prepare to open their doors to the cycling season’s lycra intake, so the above complaint will be heard above the sounds of car horns urging the pelatons off the road. These cyclists, all hale and hearty, watered and fed only on sports drinks and bananas, eschewing the calorific and arterial bombardment of beer and beef, spending nary a euro at the local hostelry. There may well be some who are tucked up by nine o’clock, sending themselves off to sleep with a study of the following day’s hundreds of kilometre route map, but there are plenty who are not.
A lot of the cyclists are German. Germany was built on beer and meat, as were most of the cyclists. It is wrong to suggest that they do not frequent the bars and restaurants and are not capable of demolishing the side of a cow and vacuuming up a barrel of lager. Or rather, it may be a correct impression if you don’t know how to attract them.
There are few places open in Playa de Muro during the late winter. But one restaurant that will be opening in February is Boy. Notwithstanding its potentially misunderstood name, Boy (the name was adopted as a translation of “chico”) has made itself a restaurant of choice for the cyclist. It helps that Juan Antonio himself is a keen user of two wheels, but that’s just a part of the story. The restaurant has forged a strong relationship not only with the springtime cycling fraternity but also with Max Huerzler who organises much of the cycling tourism.
Where others might ignore or moan about the value of this early tourism, Boy has turned it into an advantage. I think it’s known as running a business. And they have extended their own business by a couple of months by getting close to the cyclist market.
So when others are complaining, take a look at the terrace at Restaurant Boy on a sunny February late afternoon or early evening. All that lycra may not be to everyone’s taste, but all that lycra does indeed go to restaurants and does indeed spend money.
QUIZ
Yesterday – Grange Hill. Today’s title – one for those with long memories, this was a television pop show produced by whom?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, January 05, 2008
There May Be Trouble Ahead
Is 2008 going to be such a good year? All the prognostications that were being offered towards the end of the old year suggested that it would be, but will the credit squeeze make those predictions look a little silly? The big two tour operators – TUI (Thomson and First Choice) and Neckermann (Thomas Cook and My Travel) – are now apparently cutting the number of beds for Mediterranean holidays this coming season to the tune of some 1.25 million. How this might impact upon Mallorca is not clear, but it is not unrealistic to believe that Spain as a whole may see a reduction by at least a fifth of that total.
Thomas Cook are maintaining a positive spin by saying that holidays are a “necessity”. Are they really? If money gets tight, then perhaps a fallow year is something families might well consider. But even if the actual holiday sales are not harmed significantly, that spend that everyone keeps on about could well be. The trend is for lower spend, and it is understandable. Fork out for the actual holiday and then skimp when in situ. Common sense suggests, I’m afraid, that the tills will not be ringing more loudly than they have been these past two or three years.
As ever, the all-inclusives will cop it if that spend goes down further. And if evidence were needed of the attraction and promotion of the all-inclusive, look no further than one of the tour operator’s brochures. I have a copy of Direct Holidays’ brochure. This offers – in Alcúdia* – six hotels (or hotel complexes): Bellevue, Lagomonte, Club Mac, Sol Alcúdia, Alcúdia Pins and Delfin Verde. Three of these (Lagomonte, Club Mac and Delfin Verde) are all-inclusive, and it is there in red letters in the brochure to highlight the fact. (* Actually not all in Alcúdia – see as follows.)
Brochures are not what they were many years ago. Consumerism, watchdogs, the media and the law have all helped to stop the flagrant misrepresentation that used to occur once upon a time. But there are still some, how can I put it, inconsistencies. Take Direct Holidays. Its brochure makes the “mistake” that is often made regarding Playa de Muro. Alcúdia Pins, it says, is in Alcúdia, or at least it says so initially. It then says that the hotel is on the “outskirts” of Alcúdia – depends how you define outskirts really – and adds that it is “just” 5.6 kilometres from the centre.
Nowhere in this description are the words Playa, de, Muro mentioned. I have spoken about this before (20 August 2007, “And I’m Pins And I’m Needles”). To sell Alcúdia Pins as being in Alcúdia is inaccurate. It is in Muro, it is a schlep to get to Alcúdia, and the “selection of restaurants and shop within easy walking distance” of the hotel is limited. If the hotel were to be defined as being in a town other than that in which it really is, it would be more accurate to say that it was in Can Picafort, which is fractionally closer than the Alcúdia boundary.
This 5.6 kilometres: checked it by driving it. The distances from Alcúdia Pins are a bit over 3 kilometres to the border of Alcúdia, a bit over 5 to Bellevue and a bit over 7 (getting on for four and a half miles) to the port. The 5.6 is, one presumes, to the Bellevue area or The Mile if you prefer. Fair enough, but it repeats the misnomer that is used in respect of the “centre” of Alcúdia. The real centre is either the old town or the port; Bellevue (The Mile) is a tourism adjunct, it is more towards the outskirts of Alcúdia than being the centre, but it does all of course depend on how you define outskirts, doesn’t it.
But coming back to all-inclusives and still courtesy of the Direct Holidays’ brochure, how do prices compare between an all-inclusive, self-catering and half-board (based on 3-star or 3-key accommodation)? The most expensive fortnight is the last two weeks of July. Club Mac (all-inclusive), one adult, £949 for 14 nights. Sol Alcúdia (self-catering), £692. Alcúdia Pins (half-board), £866. The Club Mac offer includes all meals, “locally produced” alcoholic drinks for a minimum of 12 hours a day plus snacks, entertainment and activities. 250 or so quid difference between all-inclusive and self-catering. Does the all-inclusive represent good value for money? For that one adult (self-catering), maybe it would cost a minimum 30 pounds a day for food and drink, or around 400 for the fortnight. You pays your money, you takes … Or perhaps you don't pays your money. Credit squeeze anyone?
QUIZ
Yesterday – Kirsty MacColl had the hit, Billy Bragg wrote it. Today’s title – who is most associated with this?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thomas Cook are maintaining a positive spin by saying that holidays are a “necessity”. Are they really? If money gets tight, then perhaps a fallow year is something families might well consider. But even if the actual holiday sales are not harmed significantly, that spend that everyone keeps on about could well be. The trend is for lower spend, and it is understandable. Fork out for the actual holiday and then skimp when in situ. Common sense suggests, I’m afraid, that the tills will not be ringing more loudly than they have been these past two or three years.
As ever, the all-inclusives will cop it if that spend goes down further. And if evidence were needed of the attraction and promotion of the all-inclusive, look no further than one of the tour operator’s brochures. I have a copy of Direct Holidays’ brochure. This offers – in Alcúdia* – six hotels (or hotel complexes): Bellevue, Lagomonte, Club Mac, Sol Alcúdia, Alcúdia Pins and Delfin Verde. Three of these (Lagomonte, Club Mac and Delfin Verde) are all-inclusive, and it is there in red letters in the brochure to highlight the fact. (* Actually not all in Alcúdia – see as follows.)
Brochures are not what they were many years ago. Consumerism, watchdogs, the media and the law have all helped to stop the flagrant misrepresentation that used to occur once upon a time. But there are still some, how can I put it, inconsistencies. Take Direct Holidays. Its brochure makes the “mistake” that is often made regarding Playa de Muro. Alcúdia Pins, it says, is in Alcúdia, or at least it says so initially. It then says that the hotel is on the “outskirts” of Alcúdia – depends how you define outskirts really – and adds that it is “just” 5.6 kilometres from the centre.
Nowhere in this description are the words Playa, de, Muro mentioned. I have spoken about this before (20 August 2007, “And I’m Pins And I’m Needles”). To sell Alcúdia Pins as being in Alcúdia is inaccurate. It is in Muro, it is a schlep to get to Alcúdia, and the “selection of restaurants and shop within easy walking distance” of the hotel is limited. If the hotel were to be defined as being in a town other than that in which it really is, it would be more accurate to say that it was in Can Picafort, which is fractionally closer than the Alcúdia boundary.
This 5.6 kilometres: checked it by driving it. The distances from Alcúdia Pins are a bit over 3 kilometres to the border of Alcúdia, a bit over 5 to Bellevue and a bit over 7 (getting on for four and a half miles) to the port. The 5.6 is, one presumes, to the Bellevue area or The Mile if you prefer. Fair enough, but it repeats the misnomer that is used in respect of the “centre” of Alcúdia. The real centre is either the old town or the port; Bellevue (The Mile) is a tourism adjunct, it is more towards the outskirts of Alcúdia than being the centre, but it does all of course depend on how you define outskirts, doesn’t it.
But coming back to all-inclusives and still courtesy of the Direct Holidays’ brochure, how do prices compare between an all-inclusive, self-catering and half-board (based on 3-star or 3-key accommodation)? The most expensive fortnight is the last two weeks of July. Club Mac (all-inclusive), one adult, £949 for 14 nights. Sol Alcúdia (self-catering), £692. Alcúdia Pins (half-board), £866. The Club Mac offer includes all meals, “locally produced” alcoholic drinks for a minimum of 12 hours a day plus snacks, entertainment and activities. 250 or so quid difference between all-inclusive and self-catering. Does the all-inclusive represent good value for money? For that one adult (self-catering), maybe it would cost a minimum 30 pounds a day for food and drink, or around 400 for the fortnight. You pays your money, you takes … Or perhaps you don't pays your money. Credit squeeze anyone?
QUIZ
Yesterday – Kirsty MacColl had the hit, Billy Bragg wrote it. Today’s title – who is most associated with this?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
I Say High, You Say Low
Good or bad, bad or good. You pays your money, and you takes your choice. Or rather you may not take a choice if you happen to be a small trader. The summer season: successful or not successful? “Ultima Hora” does run interesting series. Like its studies of the beaches of Mallorca, it is now asking around the resorts how well the season went. Today is the turn of Playa de Muro. The results are not difficult to predict - the town hall and the hoteliers thought it was good or at least acceptable; the traders thought it normal or bad. Two sides, one coin.
In the high season of July and August, there was more or less total occupation in the hotels, of which there are a significant number - 32 to be precise. Attaining 100% occupation is a cause for celebration. The mayor of Muro is duly happy, the head of Grupotel (with four hotels) is similarly happy; only the head of Muro’s tourism sounds a negative - he concedes that there appears to have been a reduction in tourist spend. And that, of course, is what the traders are saying; one also reckons that the quality of the tourist has fallen. These are familiar themes, and could apply to most resorts in Mallorca.
As ever, it is the all-inclusive which takes the blame; and equally as ever, no-one really knows the full story as to the actual number of all-inclusive places - it is anecdote rather than hard information that takes precedence. The traders in the article are not exactly representative, neither is a bar nor restaurant owner, and a sample of two hardly makes for scientific certainty. But it is an indication, as was my piece at the end of July (29 July: 10:15 Saturday Night), which mentioned the fact that on one evening at the height of the season a restaurant in Playa de Muro had only two tables occupied.
The quality of tourist angle is one hears more and more. I find this insulting. Let’s call a spade a cash cow, quality tourism is a euphemism for moneyed tourism. Don’t spend or can’t spend, and the tourist is branded with a low-quality stamp: made in China and not in Germany. I don’t recognise this qualitative affront in Playa de Muro. There are, as a proportion, significantly more four-star hotels in Muro than in Alcúdia; there are no vast all-inclusive ghettoes such as the Mac complex with its unquestionable segment of economy class; the only five-star hotels along the coast in the north are in Playa de Muro. Opting for all-inclusive at an Iberostar four-star is hardly a sign of lack of spend (on the holiday accommodation at any rate).
There is another issue, and one I have referred to before. Playa de Muro has neither a promenade nor a centre; it lacks a focus. That it basically straddles a main road has created a by-pass of ambience. For many, it is looked upon as being the “quiet part” of Alcúdia, despite the fact that it is not Alcúdia. The road hints at something else, and there is a something else - the port and The Mile in Alcúdia. People do not come to Playa de Muro in the evenings, they leave it.
I wonder if there is not another dynamic at play - the growing discernment of the tourist. I once read a comment by someone staying at the fine Playa de Muro Village. They took a look around, didn’t much care for what they saw, so opted to eat in the hotel. That implies the restaurants are no good, which is not the case, but the strip on the Albufera side from the Esperanza roundabout up to the Alcudi-Mar and Las Gaviotas hotels does not look that inviting. Even someone from the town hall told me it was “feo” (ugly). One of the traders refers to Playa de Muro as a “beautiful area”. It is. There are the natural advantages of beach, forest, wetlands together with the artificial ones of often splendidly attractive hotel stock. Then there are other bits - like that strip. It is something that badly needs some attention, something that perhaps the town hall should be addressing. But while they can boast of 100% occupancy, I wouldn’t bank on it. Even without 100% occupancy, I wouldn’t bank on it either.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Chris de Burgh. Today’s title - line from...?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
In the high season of July and August, there was more or less total occupation in the hotels, of which there are a significant number - 32 to be precise. Attaining 100% occupation is a cause for celebration. The mayor of Muro is duly happy, the head of Grupotel (with four hotels) is similarly happy; only the head of Muro’s tourism sounds a negative - he concedes that there appears to have been a reduction in tourist spend. And that, of course, is what the traders are saying; one also reckons that the quality of the tourist has fallen. These are familiar themes, and could apply to most resorts in Mallorca.
As ever, it is the all-inclusive which takes the blame; and equally as ever, no-one really knows the full story as to the actual number of all-inclusive places - it is anecdote rather than hard information that takes precedence. The traders in the article are not exactly representative, neither is a bar nor restaurant owner, and a sample of two hardly makes for scientific certainty. But it is an indication, as was my piece at the end of July (29 July: 10:15 Saturday Night), which mentioned the fact that on one evening at the height of the season a restaurant in Playa de Muro had only two tables occupied.
The quality of tourist angle is one hears more and more. I find this insulting. Let’s call a spade a cash cow, quality tourism is a euphemism for moneyed tourism. Don’t spend or can’t spend, and the tourist is branded with a low-quality stamp: made in China and not in Germany. I don’t recognise this qualitative affront in Playa de Muro. There are, as a proportion, significantly more four-star hotels in Muro than in Alcúdia; there are no vast all-inclusive ghettoes such as the Mac complex with its unquestionable segment of economy class; the only five-star hotels along the coast in the north are in Playa de Muro. Opting for all-inclusive at an Iberostar four-star is hardly a sign of lack of spend (on the holiday accommodation at any rate).
There is another issue, and one I have referred to before. Playa de Muro has neither a promenade nor a centre; it lacks a focus. That it basically straddles a main road has created a by-pass of ambience. For many, it is looked upon as being the “quiet part” of Alcúdia, despite the fact that it is not Alcúdia. The road hints at something else, and there is a something else - the port and The Mile in Alcúdia. People do not come to Playa de Muro in the evenings, they leave it.
I wonder if there is not another dynamic at play - the growing discernment of the tourist. I once read a comment by someone staying at the fine Playa de Muro Village. They took a look around, didn’t much care for what they saw, so opted to eat in the hotel. That implies the restaurants are no good, which is not the case, but the strip on the Albufera side from the Esperanza roundabout up to the Alcudi-Mar and Las Gaviotas hotels does not look that inviting. Even someone from the town hall told me it was “feo” (ugly). One of the traders refers to Playa de Muro as a “beautiful area”. It is. There are the natural advantages of beach, forest, wetlands together with the artificial ones of often splendidly attractive hotel stock. Then there are other bits - like that strip. It is something that badly needs some attention, something that perhaps the town hall should be addressing. But while they can boast of 100% occupancy, I wouldn’t bank on it. Even without 100% occupancy, I wouldn’t bank on it either.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Chris de Burgh. Today’s title - line from...?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Friday, November 09, 2007
Living By Numbers
So the Balearics did enjoy a record year. Between January and September there was a plus 6% increase in the number of visitors (11,5 million in total - 8.3 million to Mallorca by air). That’s the good bit, but, as today’s “Diario” points out, there was a fall in spend of seven per cent. This confirms what has been widely observed during the season. If the trend this year has been for less spend, might this trend continue? While 2008 is still expected to be another good year, in terms of numbers, the negative effect of higher mortgages and of the credit crisis is likely to be more significant next year. One cannot help but form the impression that a decrease in spend is an ongoing trend.
All-inclusives are widely blamed for this decrease, but I’ve been here before; they are not the only cause. There would appear to be some good news in this regard for traders. According to more figures, there has been a backward movement in the AI offer during the high season; it represents only 2.5% of the total hotel offer on the Balearics. This may be so, but there are areas of AI concentration. In the “Diario” report, mention is made of the Llevant and north of Mallorca. It perhaps depends how one reads the report, but it seems to say that there are eight establishments in these two areas combined which offer AI ( it could also be read as meaning eight in the north). Llevant is the area of the east of the island from Artà down to Manacor. North is Alcúdia, Pollensa and Can Picafort. Whatever the meaning, to suggest that there are only eight hotels offering AI is misleading. (The information comes from the Balearic Government.)
Take one example - the Iberostar chain of hotels. Have a look at its website. How many hotels does it have in Alcúdia, Playa de Muro and Can Picafort? Eight. How many of its hotels in Alcúdia, Playa de Muro and Can Picafort offer AI? Eight. It is not the only form of board, but it is most certainly on offer. I seem to think that in at least one of these Iberostar hotels, AI is mandatory in high season. So that is eight hotels of just one group.
There is a definition issue here. When the report speaks of eight establishments, it means eight that offer AI and only AI - exclusive all-inclusive in other words (which might be considered a contradiction in terms depending - again - on how you read it). Generally though the picture regarding all-inclusives is more positive - for those who would rather see the back of them. The total number of exclusive AI hotels is 36 in the whole of the Balearics.This figure is down, as is that for hotels which offer AI as an option (such as the Iberostars), but it should be noted that these hotels represent 13.4% of the total. The number may be falling, but it is still significant. And that percentage only hints at an average - where the concentrations are, the figure could be, and I suspect is, quite a bit higher.
There is another issue. In Alcúdia, for instance, some of the biggest hotels are all-inclusive - exclusive all-inclusive. Even one that is not exclusive - Bellevue - has a substantial AI offer; 30% is what one hears. Bellevue has nearly 4200 beds - 1260 AI possibly. Lagomonte from the same group (Hotetur) is AI only - 542 beds. The three Club Mac hotels - Jupiter, Saturn, Mars - are exclusive AI: 2000 or so beds between them. The Condesa de la Bahía is exclusive AI - 1000. The point I’m making is that between six hotels, the number of AI guests is around 4860. I have worked out, based on 47 other establishments in Alcúdia, that the average hotel size is 445 - just under 21000 places*. In other words, 11.3% of the total number of hotels in the sample accounts for nearly 19% of the total number of places - that’s 19% on an exclusive all-inclusive basis (the Bellevue 30% treated as exclusive). Add on those guests taking up AI at other hotels, and the figure rises. To what, who knows?
The thing is one reads that the number of AIs is only 2.5% (or 13.4% depending on definition), and it maybe doesn’t sound a lot, but break it down by hotel, and as importantly by number of guests, and the figure changes dramatically. Statistics - who’d believe ‘em.
* Without wishing to get too detailed: The total sample was 53; Bellevue was double-counted in the 6 and the 47, and its non-AI figure is included in the 21000. (6 of 53 = 11.3%; 4860 of 25860 = 18.8%.)
QUIZ
Yesterday - Robbie, who else. Today’s title - song by a Brit group, not very successful, sort of a Human League-ish type.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
All-inclusives are widely blamed for this decrease, but I’ve been here before; they are not the only cause. There would appear to be some good news in this regard for traders. According to more figures, there has been a backward movement in the AI offer during the high season; it represents only 2.5% of the total hotel offer on the Balearics. This may be so, but there are areas of AI concentration. In the “Diario” report, mention is made of the Llevant and north of Mallorca. It perhaps depends how one reads the report, but it seems to say that there are eight establishments in these two areas combined which offer AI ( it could also be read as meaning eight in the north). Llevant is the area of the east of the island from Artà down to Manacor. North is Alcúdia, Pollensa and Can Picafort. Whatever the meaning, to suggest that there are only eight hotels offering AI is misleading. (The information comes from the Balearic Government.)
Take one example - the Iberostar chain of hotels. Have a look at its website. How many hotels does it have in Alcúdia, Playa de Muro and Can Picafort? Eight. How many of its hotels in Alcúdia, Playa de Muro and Can Picafort offer AI? Eight. It is not the only form of board, but it is most certainly on offer. I seem to think that in at least one of these Iberostar hotels, AI is mandatory in high season. So that is eight hotels of just one group.
There is a definition issue here. When the report speaks of eight establishments, it means eight that offer AI and only AI - exclusive all-inclusive in other words (which might be considered a contradiction in terms depending - again - on how you read it). Generally though the picture regarding all-inclusives is more positive - for those who would rather see the back of them. The total number of exclusive AI hotels is 36 in the whole of the Balearics.This figure is down, as is that for hotels which offer AI as an option (such as the Iberostars), but it should be noted that these hotels represent 13.4% of the total. The number may be falling, but it is still significant. And that percentage only hints at an average - where the concentrations are, the figure could be, and I suspect is, quite a bit higher.
There is another issue. In Alcúdia, for instance, some of the biggest hotels are all-inclusive - exclusive all-inclusive. Even one that is not exclusive - Bellevue - has a substantial AI offer; 30% is what one hears. Bellevue has nearly 4200 beds - 1260 AI possibly. Lagomonte from the same group (Hotetur) is AI only - 542 beds. The three Club Mac hotels - Jupiter, Saturn, Mars - are exclusive AI: 2000 or so beds between them. The Condesa de la Bahía is exclusive AI - 1000. The point I’m making is that between six hotels, the number of AI guests is around 4860. I have worked out, based on 47 other establishments in Alcúdia, that the average hotel size is 445 - just under 21000 places*. In other words, 11.3% of the total number of hotels in the sample accounts for nearly 19% of the total number of places - that’s 19% on an exclusive all-inclusive basis (the Bellevue 30% treated as exclusive). Add on those guests taking up AI at other hotels, and the figure rises. To what, who knows?
The thing is one reads that the number of AIs is only 2.5% (or 13.4% depending on definition), and it maybe doesn’t sound a lot, but break it down by hotel, and as importantly by number of guests, and the figure changes dramatically. Statistics - who’d believe ‘em.
* Without wishing to get too detailed: The total sample was 53; Bellevue was double-counted in the 6 and the 47, and its non-AI figure is included in the 21000. (6 of 53 = 11.3%; 4860 of 25860 = 18.8%.)
QUIZ
Yesterday - Robbie, who else. Today’s title - song by a Brit group, not very successful, sort of a Human League-ish type.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Sunday, September 02, 2007
It’s All About The Price
How much does it cost for a tourist in Mallorca? I’ve spoken about this before, and we get a lot about tourist spend. In a piece on 5 July (Money, Money, Money!), I noted that average tourist spend was 809 euros. I was sceptical as to what this actually represented, but in today’s “Ultima Hora” there is a feature that seeks to break this spend down. The caveat for this is that the feature is biased towards Palma and its environs and probably to the Spanish tourist, but it concludes that the average weekly spend ranges from 600 to 800 euros, the difference largely depending on the type of accommodation. The upper limit of the spend on hotels is given as 525 euros for a week (for a four-star), with three-stars given as 392. So obviously the cost of accommodation is the single biggest item, but the article also included the cost of excursions and of food and drink.
Extrapolating from this to the situation for your average Brit, German or other tourist in Alcúdia, Pollensa or Can Picafort is not easy, but I’m inclined to think that the Ultima Hora figure is a bit on the low side. I say this as there is a greater cost for transport to and from the airport and also a greater spend on food and drink than the Spanish tourist more minded to do with a menu of the day and more minded not to guzzle his or her way through several large cold drinks. There is also one vital element the article does not consider - tobacco.
So, interesting, but by no means definitive.
I do not want to bang on about Diana, and thought I would not have reason to mention her again, but there is something rather odd about the Spanish reporting; odd, in that members of the Royal Family are no longer Charles, William and Harry, but Carlos, Guillermo and Enrique. Enrique! It’s not even that Henry is his name. But why does the press change the names? In Britain, does Juan-Carlos become John-Charles? For others, the press cannot make any “translation”. Gordon Brown, for instance, remains Gordon, there being no equivalent unless you take the Spanish “gordo” (for fat). But Tony Blair was never Antonio Blair, so why change the royals’ names? Strange stuff.
QUIZ
Yesterday - “Land of Confusion”, Genesis. Sorry, I said there would be no more Genesis. But there was. Today’s title - this is an incomplete line (missing two words) from a British folk (sort of) singer, whose one-time roadie has broken a restraining order. Who?
PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Extrapolating from this to the situation for your average Brit, German or other tourist in Alcúdia, Pollensa or Can Picafort is not easy, but I’m inclined to think that the Ultima Hora figure is a bit on the low side. I say this as there is a greater cost for transport to and from the airport and also a greater spend on food and drink than the Spanish tourist more minded to do with a menu of the day and more minded not to guzzle his or her way through several large cold drinks. There is also one vital element the article does not consider - tobacco.
So, interesting, but by no means definitive.
I do not want to bang on about Diana, and thought I would not have reason to mention her again, but there is something rather odd about the Spanish reporting; odd, in that members of the Royal Family are no longer Charles, William and Harry, but Carlos, Guillermo and Enrique. Enrique! It’s not even that Henry is his name. But why does the press change the names? In Britain, does Juan-Carlos become John-Charles? For others, the press cannot make any “translation”. Gordon Brown, for instance, remains Gordon, there being no equivalent unless you take the Spanish “gordo” (for fat). But Tony Blair was never Antonio Blair, so why change the royals’ names? Strange stuff.
QUIZ
Yesterday - “Land of Confusion”, Genesis. Sorry, I said there would be no more Genesis. But there was. Today’s title - this is an incomplete line (missing two words) from a British folk (sort of) singer, whose one-time roadie has broken a restraining order. Who?
PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Oh Superman Where Are You Now?
I don’t know, I get pretty confused. All this statistical stuff. We’re back to the subject of how well, or not, restaurants have been doing this season. On 16 August (“Bad”), I referred to a survey by the small and medium-sized business organisation which suggested that restaurants, notably in Alcúdia and Can Picafort, were doing less well than last year and that the apparent late start of the high season was one of the factors (together with all-inclusives). So, what are we supposed to make of another survey emanating from the same organisation which suggests, in the case of Puerto Alcúdia, the opposite?
Restaurants in Puerto Pollensa and Puerto Alcúdia have had increases in numbers of up to 15% and up to 10% in spend. This contradicts the earlier report. Moreover, the latest survey says that June and July were better than August. Fair enough, I said this on 16 August, but this does also contradict the earlier report’s finding that the allegedly late start to the season was a reason for poor performance.
As I say, I don’t know, albeit that poor old Can Picafort is consistent - down by as much as 10% of spend.
And so to a follow-up to the issue I raised on 15 July (“200 Motels”). This concerned the over-availability of sun loungers and umbrellas on the beach at Playa de Muro. Now it seems that Muro council could be fined because there are too many, which would be passed to the concessionaires, already liable to fines from the council itself. Confused? Well, check back to 15 July for a bit more of an explanation.
Muro council is very much in the naughty chair at the moment because of the presence of dogs and horses on the beach and harm to the dunes. Well, well, here’s something else I had previously brought up (24 May: A Horse, Of Course). Something odd happened a couple of months back. I went to check the information board on my bit of beach in Playa de Muro, and it had gone. Disappeared. Now, that board for sure had a no-dogs sign, so why was it removed? Very odd.
As to the dunes, I’m also a bit confused. As far as I am aware, the dunes form part of the nature park and are therefore the responsibility of the relevant ministry. Indeed the sign that was put up when part of the dunes were roped off made this clear; there was the Government’s motif and that of S’Albufera. The criticism of the council specfically refers to the “elimination” of the dunes. I suspect that this does not envisage the head of the council standing at the water’s edge Cnut-like trying to ward off the waves. All I can think is that this suggests that the dunes have been built on or are being used for some reason or another. There is no doubt that this is the case, in the sense that hotels (and houses) have been built on what were dunes, but that is historical. What are they going to do? Plough the bulldozers into a few Iberostars? I don’t think so. Otherwise, the dunes aren’t, from what I can see, used for anything except for the Balnearios, which have also been there for years.
Confused? I am.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Will Smith “Men in Black”. Today’s title: it is a line from a song that echoes the theme of this piece.
PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Restaurants in Puerto Pollensa and Puerto Alcúdia have had increases in numbers of up to 15% and up to 10% in spend. This contradicts the earlier report. Moreover, the latest survey says that June and July were better than August. Fair enough, I said this on 16 August, but this does also contradict the earlier report’s finding that the allegedly late start to the season was a reason for poor performance.
As I say, I don’t know, albeit that poor old Can Picafort is consistent - down by as much as 10% of spend.
And so to a follow-up to the issue I raised on 15 July (“200 Motels”). This concerned the over-availability of sun loungers and umbrellas on the beach at Playa de Muro. Now it seems that Muro council could be fined because there are too many, which would be passed to the concessionaires, already liable to fines from the council itself. Confused? Well, check back to 15 July for a bit more of an explanation.
Muro council is very much in the naughty chair at the moment because of the presence of dogs and horses on the beach and harm to the dunes. Well, well, here’s something else I had previously brought up (24 May: A Horse, Of Course). Something odd happened a couple of months back. I went to check the information board on my bit of beach in Playa de Muro, and it had gone. Disappeared. Now, that board for sure had a no-dogs sign, so why was it removed? Very odd.
As to the dunes, I’m also a bit confused. As far as I am aware, the dunes form part of the nature park and are therefore the responsibility of the relevant ministry. Indeed the sign that was put up when part of the dunes were roped off made this clear; there was the Government’s motif and that of S’Albufera. The criticism of the council specfically refers to the “elimination” of the dunes. I suspect that this does not envisage the head of the council standing at the water’s edge Cnut-like trying to ward off the waves. All I can think is that this suggests that the dunes have been built on or are being used for some reason or another. There is no doubt that this is the case, in the sense that hotels (and houses) have been built on what were dunes, but that is historical. What are they going to do? Plough the bulldozers into a few Iberostars? I don’t think so. Otherwise, the dunes aren’t, from what I can see, used for anything except for the Balnearios, which have also been there for years.
Confused? I am.
QUIZ
Yesterday - Will Smith “Men in Black”. Today’s title: it is a line from a song that echoes the theme of this piece.
PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
It’s Got To Be, Perfect
Well more statistics if you can bear them. “Ultima Hora” today reports that it is indeed a record year. The front-page headline blares out: “The Balearics register the best tourist season in the last ten years”. With the exception of the increasing (or should that be shrinking) basket-case that is Menorca, the other islands have been faring well, Mallorca topping the league with up to 95% hotel occupancy, business profitability up by as much as 5% and activity in the restaurant sector up by 10%.
But scratch beneath the surface, and what do we find? The restaurant figure is skewed by a 15% increase in Palma alone. Not Calvia, not Alcúdia, not Pollensa. Palma. Moreover, the occupancy (and that restaurant activity) is assisted by the strength of Spanish national tourism, with the British market somewhat down.
While the figures can allow a collective pat on the back for those organisations and authorities that thrive on positive numbers, the increases are not necessarily universal. Spanish tourism, while not inconsequential in the north, does not fill the bars along the Greasy Mile nor indeed many an establishment in Puerto Pollensa.
So, as always, one takes these figures for what they are not - an accurate reflection of the local market.
CARRETERA ARTA
One of this blog’s most popular themes, especially since the redesign of the road. I have to be honest and say it isn’t as bad as I had anticipated. The slowing of the traffic seems also to have brought a hitherto unknown courteousness when it comes to letting people cross the road - at crossing points. It is the non-crossing points that are the problem. Despite the increase in the number of crossings and the islands without actual white lines, you still encounter people appearing from nowhere in the middle of the road. It may come as a surprise, but jaywalking is an offence here.
Despite the apparent best intentions of the road’s planners, there is no accounting for people’s bone-idleness. There again, one does have to question the positioning of some of these crossings. One, like that where people walk from the boat that ferries them over from Bellevue to the beach, is eminently sensible. Another, or rather one that doesn’t exist, is that in front of the Delfin Azul (for which read also Port d’Alcúdia and Alcúdia Beach). Yes there is a pedestrian crossing up the road a bit; yes there are a couple of crossing islands close by. But behaviour isn’t like that. “I’ve walked up this road, I want to cross this big one, so I’m going to cross it here, not there.” And so they do.
And just on those crossing islands. I used the one near the Delfin Azul one day. There I was on the island. To my right, a line of traffic at the head of which was a Trafico car. What do you know? Trafico stopped, and waved me across. What fine people they are.
QUIZ
Thanks to all who suggested 1967 records. And thanks also to those who replied to yesterday’s quiz. One of the most popular yet. It was The Waterboys “Whole Of The Moon”. Which brings me to today’s: Briefly The Waterboys counted among their number a female singer who had a number one hit with her own group. Who was she and what was the group?
The latest of this blog’s contemporary music recommendations. Don’t know what it is with female singers, but here we go. Candie Payne. There’s a myspace: www.myspace.com/candiepayne
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com)
But scratch beneath the surface, and what do we find? The restaurant figure is skewed by a 15% increase in Palma alone. Not Calvia, not Alcúdia, not Pollensa. Palma. Moreover, the occupancy (and that restaurant activity) is assisted by the strength of Spanish national tourism, with the British market somewhat down.
While the figures can allow a collective pat on the back for those organisations and authorities that thrive on positive numbers, the increases are not necessarily universal. Spanish tourism, while not inconsequential in the north, does not fill the bars along the Greasy Mile nor indeed many an establishment in Puerto Pollensa.
So, as always, one takes these figures for what they are not - an accurate reflection of the local market.
CARRETERA ARTA
One of this blog’s most popular themes, especially since the redesign of the road. I have to be honest and say it isn’t as bad as I had anticipated. The slowing of the traffic seems also to have brought a hitherto unknown courteousness when it comes to letting people cross the road - at crossing points. It is the non-crossing points that are the problem. Despite the increase in the number of crossings and the islands without actual white lines, you still encounter people appearing from nowhere in the middle of the road. It may come as a surprise, but jaywalking is an offence here.
Despite the apparent best intentions of the road’s planners, there is no accounting for people’s bone-idleness. There again, one does have to question the positioning of some of these crossings. One, like that where people walk from the boat that ferries them over from Bellevue to the beach, is eminently sensible. Another, or rather one that doesn’t exist, is that in front of the Delfin Azul (for which read also Port d’Alcúdia and Alcúdia Beach). Yes there is a pedestrian crossing up the road a bit; yes there are a couple of crossing islands close by. But behaviour isn’t like that. “I’ve walked up this road, I want to cross this big one, so I’m going to cross it here, not there.” And so they do.
And just on those crossing islands. I used the one near the Delfin Azul one day. There I was on the island. To my right, a line of traffic at the head of which was a Trafico car. What do you know? Trafico stopped, and waved me across. What fine people they are.
QUIZ
Thanks to all who suggested 1967 records. And thanks also to those who replied to yesterday’s quiz. One of the most popular yet. It was The Waterboys “Whole Of The Moon”. Which brings me to today’s: Briefly The Waterboys counted among their number a female singer who had a number one hit with her own group. Who was she and what was the group?
The latest of this blog’s contemporary music recommendations. Don’t know what it is with female singers, but here we go. Candie Payne. There’s a myspace: www.myspace.com/candiepayne
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com)
Monday, August 06, 2007
This Is The Sea
Today’s leader in “Ultima Hora” refers to the fact that 2007 “is going to be a record year”. Elsewhere, it reports that turnover among businesses situated in Mallorca’s tourist areas will increase by 2.7% over last year (also a record year, you may remember).
Here we go again. Congratulatory statistics, but what do they mean? If, for instance, the turnover figure includes revenue for hotels then there should be some disquiet when it comes to tourist spend. This is because many hotels increased their prices this season by around 4%. Put that into the equation, and things don’t sound so great. But as ever, getting any real sense out of these stats is a pretty forlorn task.
THE SEA
This is an island. A small island. The wind is a constant. A constant change. A north-easterly four days ago and then Friday a full-on northerly. The roar of the sea was so great it woke me, making me wonder if the fans were still on downstairs. The waves were not that high, but there were red flags anyway. And so of course people ignore the flags and the lifeguards. If there is one thing you don’t mess with, it is the sea.
I have seen people hauled from the sea. I have known people taken away by currents and undertow. You live by the sea, and you know the sea. Not everyone does. The sea says: you want to fuck with me, go ahead, and I’ll fuck you up. They don’t come back unless tangled with seaweed. But they keep on trying to take on the sea, and failing. And they will always fail, because the sea will always win.
And the other thing with the change in wind. Blows jellyfish in. There they were, beached. There was this little girl hollering. And still people challenge the sea.
MORE 1967
Jefferson Airplane “Somebody To Love”, The Beach Boys “Heroes And Villains”, The Moody Blues “Nights In White Satin”, Spencer Davis Group “I’m A Man”, The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset”, Traffic “Paper Sun”. Also The Beatles “All You Need Is Love”. Does anyone else remember the broadcast that featured this? Was it the Earlybird satellite? The Beatles were one thing. Wasn’t there a thing with a woman giving birth in Sydney, too? Forty years ago. It was cutting edge. The broadcast that is, not the giving birth.
QUIZ
Last time. The Move’s “Flowers In The Rain” was the first record played on Radio One on 30 September 1967. Thanks to Geoff for finding that The Bee Gees “Massachusetts” was the second. Today. This is an album title, the best-known track from which has the lyric: “You came like a comet, blazing your trail. Too high, too far, too soon. You saw ...” Who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Here we go again. Congratulatory statistics, but what do they mean? If, for instance, the turnover figure includes revenue for hotels then there should be some disquiet when it comes to tourist spend. This is because many hotels increased their prices this season by around 4%. Put that into the equation, and things don’t sound so great. But as ever, getting any real sense out of these stats is a pretty forlorn task.
THE SEA
This is an island. A small island. The wind is a constant. A constant change. A north-easterly four days ago and then Friday a full-on northerly. The roar of the sea was so great it woke me, making me wonder if the fans were still on downstairs. The waves were not that high, but there were red flags anyway. And so of course people ignore the flags and the lifeguards. If there is one thing you don’t mess with, it is the sea.
I have seen people hauled from the sea. I have known people taken away by currents and undertow. You live by the sea, and you know the sea. Not everyone does. The sea says: you want to fuck with me, go ahead, and I’ll fuck you up. They don’t come back unless tangled with seaweed. But they keep on trying to take on the sea, and failing. And they will always fail, because the sea will always win.
And the other thing with the change in wind. Blows jellyfish in. There they were, beached. There was this little girl hollering. And still people challenge the sea.
MORE 1967
Jefferson Airplane “Somebody To Love”, The Beach Boys “Heroes And Villains”, The Moody Blues “Nights In White Satin”, Spencer Davis Group “I’m A Man”, The Kinks “Waterloo Sunset”, Traffic “Paper Sun”. Also The Beatles “All You Need Is Love”. Does anyone else remember the broadcast that featured this? Was it the Earlybird satellite? The Beatles were one thing. Wasn’t there a thing with a woman giving birth in Sydney, too? Forty years ago. It was cutting edge. The broadcast that is, not the giving birth.
QUIZ
Last time. The Move’s “Flowers In The Rain” was the first record played on Radio One on 30 September 1967. Thanks to Geoff for finding that The Bee Gees “Massachusetts” was the second. Today. This is an album title, the best-known track from which has the lyric: “You came like a comet, blazing your trail. Too high, too far, too soon. You saw ...” Who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, August 02, 2007
If You’re Going To San Francisco
Welcome back to the Department of Fatuous Statistics. The first six months has seen the level of tourist spend on the islands increase by some 5%. In real terms, this equates to a spend - per day, per tourist - of 99 euros. What is unclear, and these statistics are rarely clear, is whether this spend takes into account the actual cost of a holiday. If not, the 99 (let’s call it 100 shall we) doesn’t sound that bad. But I’m unconvinced. Recently, elsewhere on the internet, I gave some info to a chap coming to stay in Alcanada. His budget for him, his wife and two kids was 130-140 euros per day for all four of them, or 35 euros per day, per tourist. This isn’t a huge amount if you start to weigh up costs of meals, transport (necessary in Alcanada), drinks, the odd excursion, hire of fans perhaps, a bit of shopping, more drinks. But it still adds up, over a fortnight, to something a bit short of 2000 euros. Now, that’s quite a lot of money.
And still one hears that things are slow. The tourist offices are a good gauge of activity, and the one at the top of the Greasy Mile reports that the number of enquirers is down, especially amongst the Brits and Germans. What is holding up is the Scandinavian market (if one takes enquiries as an indicator). But with increased mortgages in Britain and a less favourable exchange rate, one can understand things being slow.
A different angle on mortgages - local ones. As mentioned some while back (15 June: I’m Forever Bursting Bubbles), interest rates are on the rise and are expected to continue to rise. This has already had an impact on property prices, in parts of Palma at any rate. There, prices are down by as much as 30% (sorry, another statistic), so there does appear to be a trend towards a correction in the property market, which is long overdue.
CAN PICAFORT FIESTA
Added to the WHAT'S ON BLOG is a list of stuff for the fiesta fortnightish in Can Picafort, one highlight of which is the all-nighter party, shifted this year to the sports arena.
1967
One of the beauties of doing a blog is that you can do what you like - well, within reason. So, indulge me. And I only ask because I know how surprisingly popular all this music and trivia quiz stuff is on this blog.
I heard Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” last night. Forty years. 1967. Forty of your whole years. It was summer then; it’s summer now. But this was 1967. I was twelve. Bournemouth. Hippies in the Winter Gardens. Two years before my first experience of Mallorca (Arenal, if you must know, and I can still remember what looked like a shanty town at the back of the hotel).
But 1967. In no particular order, in addition to “See Emily Play”, Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, The Monkees “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, The Supremes “The Happening”, Keith West “Excerpt From A Teenage Opera”, The Young Rascals “Groovin”. Rose-tinted glasses I know, but they don’t make summers like 1967 any more. Anyone else any recollections, especially of the musical variety, so long as they don’t involve Engelbert Humperdinck.
Quiz stuff - Yesterday, The Ronettes and The Searchers. Today’s title. It was the anthem of 1967. Who? Easy, I would reckon.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
And still one hears that things are slow. The tourist offices are a good gauge of activity, and the one at the top of the Greasy Mile reports that the number of enquirers is down, especially amongst the Brits and Germans. What is holding up is the Scandinavian market (if one takes enquiries as an indicator). But with increased mortgages in Britain and a less favourable exchange rate, one can understand things being slow.
A different angle on mortgages - local ones. As mentioned some while back (15 June: I’m Forever Bursting Bubbles), interest rates are on the rise and are expected to continue to rise. This has already had an impact on property prices, in parts of Palma at any rate. There, prices are down by as much as 30% (sorry, another statistic), so there does appear to be a trend towards a correction in the property market, which is long overdue.
CAN PICAFORT FIESTA
Added to the WHAT'S ON BLOG is a list of stuff for the fiesta fortnightish in Can Picafort, one highlight of which is the all-nighter party, shifted this year to the sports arena.
1967
One of the beauties of doing a blog is that you can do what you like - well, within reason. So, indulge me. And I only ask because I know how surprisingly popular all this music and trivia quiz stuff is on this blog.
I heard Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” last night. Forty years. 1967. Forty of your whole years. It was summer then; it’s summer now. But this was 1967. I was twelve. Bournemouth. Hippies in the Winter Gardens. Two years before my first experience of Mallorca (Arenal, if you must know, and I can still remember what looked like a shanty town at the back of the hotel).
But 1967. In no particular order, in addition to “See Emily Play”, Procol Harum “A Whiter Shade of Pale”, The Monkees “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, The Supremes “The Happening”, Keith West “Excerpt From A Teenage Opera”, The Young Rascals “Groovin”. Rose-tinted glasses I know, but they don’t make summers like 1967 any more. Anyone else any recollections, especially of the musical variety, so long as they don’t involve Engelbert Humperdinck.
Quiz stuff - Yesterday, The Ronettes and The Searchers. Today’s title. It was the anthem of 1967. Who? Easy, I would reckon.
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Sunday, July 29, 2007
10:15 Saturday Night
I don’t normally talk about trivial matters such as what I do on a Saturday evening, but for once I will. I was having a curry at New Delhi in Playa de Muro. What a dismal experience. The food was fine, the company was fine. But the restaurant ... Two tables were occupied in the whole of the two-and-a-half hours spent there. Two tables. Last weekend in July. High season.
There are any number of reasons. Lack of spend. All-inclusives. But this part of Playa de Muro looks pretty dismal.
Empty units with for-sale signs. A bar and restaurant - open and running - but both with for-sale signs. The terraces are mostly empty. There is a lack of life, a lack of light even. They have had the life sucked out of them. They have little more to offer. And what they did has been sucked up by the Boulevard DIY centre where the tex-mex is doing ok and there are people at the café. The shop lights shine and welcome the moths of tourists like runaways drawn to the city lights and away from the drabness and ordinariness of provincial life.
But lacking the funds of Boulevard, these other places - caught between the rock of rents and overheads and a hard place of low spend - cannot (apparently) even shine out brightly to attract custom.
And there, on the other side of the road, are the opulent Iberostars, radiant, glowing, temples of exclusive all-inclusivity, tying their worshippers by cocktail and third-rate cabaret.
There is a view that every year is not as good as the one before. Last year was better, the one before was better still, and five years before the streets were ticker-taped with euros being crunched by those wearing diamonds in the soles of their shoes.
It was always better. Go back ten or twenty years, and there was an alchemy that could turn the mere dross of a Saint Mick and a burger into rivers of gold and the riches of kings.
It is of course questionable that it was ever really THAT good. But if one uses the evidence of one’s eyes, at least when it comes to one part of one resort, one has to ask - was it ever really THIS bad?
Quiz - Last time. Harry Potter, the latest of course. Today’s title? Who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
There are any number of reasons. Lack of spend. All-inclusives. But this part of Playa de Muro looks pretty dismal.
Empty units with for-sale signs. A bar and restaurant - open and running - but both with for-sale signs. The terraces are mostly empty. There is a lack of life, a lack of light even. They have had the life sucked out of them. They have little more to offer. And what they did has been sucked up by the Boulevard DIY centre where the tex-mex is doing ok and there are people at the café. The shop lights shine and welcome the moths of tourists like runaways drawn to the city lights and away from the drabness and ordinariness of provincial life.
But lacking the funds of Boulevard, these other places - caught between the rock of rents and overheads and a hard place of low spend - cannot (apparently) even shine out brightly to attract custom.
And there, on the other side of the road, are the opulent Iberostars, radiant, glowing, temples of exclusive all-inclusivity, tying their worshippers by cocktail and third-rate cabaret.
There is a view that every year is not as good as the one before. Last year was better, the one before was better still, and five years before the streets were ticker-taped with euros being crunched by those wearing diamonds in the soles of their shoes.
It was always better. Go back ten or twenty years, and there was an alchemy that could turn the mere dross of a Saint Mick and a burger into rivers of gold and the riches of kings.
It is of course questionable that it was ever really THAT good. But if one uses the evidence of one’s eyes, at least when it comes to one part of one resort, one has to ask - was it ever really THIS bad?
Quiz - Last time. Harry Potter, the latest of course. Today’s title? Who?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Money, Money, Money!
Daft or what?
It has been known for this blog to present tourism statistics. It has also been known for the rip to be taken out of these statistics. So, here are some more.
For the first five months of this year, tourist spend increased by 1.1 per cent. Moreover, the average spend was 809 euros, a fall of 0.1% on the same period last year.
Well, I am impressed. You probably won’t be. This stuff comes from our old mates at “The Bulletin”, so thanks to them. But what is unclear is what the spend is per tourist. The 809 euros figure is for tourist visit. Does that mean family, one person, or what? The length of stay is also an issue.
I suppose it’s pretty academic. The word is still that tourists are spending less - at least in these parts - so you can have statistics coming out of your backside, and they’re irrelevant.
Just a linguistic point, “Bulletin”. In British English, we say per cent, not percent. Sorry, but these things matter.
Anyway, this blog doesn’t just report, it finds out. So, I’ve been on the Net, looking at forums. This is, as ever, highly unscientific, but here are a couple of comments:
“We never spend more than €500 in a week in Spain even when we stay half board.”
“I’m going AI for 1 week with my boyfriend and we are taking 500 euros between us.”
And then if you consider comments which relate to spending on cigarettes (and you want to stand in a tobacconists to see the wads that get handed over), you start to form a picture. People are seemingly spending less on restaurants (not necessarily on bars), are relying on the board arrangements, be they half-board or all-inclusive, and using the spare cash for fags and the odd excursion.
Unscientific, but indicative.
Quiz: The title from yesterday was adapted from “Selling England By The Pound”. Genesis. Again. Sorry about that. Don’t know why they keep muscling in here. Today’s title? Very easy. Who sang it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
It has been known for this blog to present tourism statistics. It has also been known for the rip to be taken out of these statistics. So, here are some more.
For the first five months of this year, tourist spend increased by 1.1 per cent. Moreover, the average spend was 809 euros, a fall of 0.1% on the same period last year.
Well, I am impressed. You probably won’t be. This stuff comes from our old mates at “The Bulletin”, so thanks to them. But what is unclear is what the spend is per tourist. The 809 euros figure is for tourist visit. Does that mean family, one person, or what? The length of stay is also an issue.
I suppose it’s pretty academic. The word is still that tourists are spending less - at least in these parts - so you can have statistics coming out of your backside, and they’re irrelevant.
Just a linguistic point, “Bulletin”. In British English, we say per cent, not percent. Sorry, but these things matter.
Anyway, this blog doesn’t just report, it finds out. So, I’ve been on the Net, looking at forums. This is, as ever, highly unscientific, but here are a couple of comments:
“We never spend more than €500 in a week in Spain even when we stay half board.”
“I’m going AI for 1 week with my boyfriend and we are taking 500 euros between us.”
And then if you consider comments which relate to spending on cigarettes (and you want to stand in a tobacconists to see the wads that get handed over), you start to form a picture. People are seemingly spending less on restaurants (not necessarily on bars), are relying on the board arrangements, be they half-board or all-inclusive, and using the spare cash for fags and the odd excursion.
Unscientific, but indicative.
Quiz: The title from yesterday was adapted from “Selling England By The Pound”. Genesis. Again. Sorry about that. Don’t know why they keep muscling in here. Today’s title? Very easy. Who sang it?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Things Can Only Get Better
Well, hopefully. Word is things are not too great this season. There again, you hear this every year. Someone said it’s 30% down. There are complaints of lack of people and especially lack of spend. We have been here before. Last year, to be precise. That was a record year, allegedly.
All-inclusives are the devil in all this, but there are other factors. And people are being more careful with the money. Why? Debt, that’s why.
Another departure from Estate Agent Street in Puerto Pollensa. Barnard Hamilton’s office has closed. But this is a positive closure. The new one is at the start of the pinewalk. And very impressive it is, too. Very impressive.
A letter to “The Bulletin” sheds some light on the resurfacing of roads. Apparently it has to be done when the weather’s hot - for technical reasons that I don’t need to bother you with. I had kind of thought this might be a factor. Except. Why then do they surface roads when it isn’t hot? Confused? You soon will be.
Which brings me to the quiz. That last line came from a very famous sitcom. What was it? Also, in recognition of Tone’s departure and Gord’s ascent, I’ve wheeled out today’s title. No prizes for knowing D:Ream, but who was number one when Tone became PM first time round. Was it Oasis, R. Kelly or The Spice Girls?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
All-inclusives are the devil in all this, but there are other factors. And people are being more careful with the money. Why? Debt, that’s why.
Another departure from Estate Agent Street in Puerto Pollensa. Barnard Hamilton’s office has closed. But this is a positive closure. The new one is at the start of the pinewalk. And very impressive it is, too. Very impressive.
A letter to “The Bulletin” sheds some light on the resurfacing of roads. Apparently it has to be done when the weather’s hot - for technical reasons that I don’t need to bother you with. I had kind of thought this might be a factor. Except. Why then do they surface roads when it isn’t hot? Confused? You soon will be.
Which brings me to the quiz. That last line came from a very famous sitcom. What was it? Also, in recognition of Tone’s departure and Gord’s ascent, I’ve wheeled out today’s title. No prizes for knowing D:Ream, but who was number one when Tone became PM first time round. Was it Oasis, R. Kelly or The Spice Girls?
(PLEASE REPLY TO andrew@thealcudiaguide.com AND NOT VIA THE COMMENTS THINGY HERE.)
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