With the increase in demand come the debates about tourist overcrowding. Ebel can't say whether a ceiling in terms of numbers has been reached. "This is not a question I wish to answer. I would prefer the people of the Balearic Islands to say how many tourists they want to have. The islands offer a great product and people love spending their holidays there.
"Our obligation is to ensure that we contribute by bringing the right customer. Without sustainability it would be very difficult for us to maintain our activity, so we must ensure that what we do is also valuable for the people of the Balearics. If in the end there are too many tourists or too few, that must be decided by the residents themselves."
Ebel believes that the islands and Spain in general are doing well in maintaining and increasing the quality of the tourist offer. "I'm sure that this is the objective that everyone in the Balearics is pursuing. We want to ensure that we have different types of client who find what they want on the islands, because the variety of the offer is great. When my children were little, we loved going to Menorca, which is a very different product to Playa de Palma."
In this regard, he speaks positively of the possibilities for the low season. "I love sports events like the Palma Marathon. Our task is to offer all kinds of new products to get new customers and make the season longer. The weather conditions are what they are. Perhaps you can't always avoid the rain, so it is important to offer alternatives to tourists if the weather is not that good."
But are the Balearics becoming too expensive, especially as there are recessionary conditions? "The fact that inflation in Spain was significantly lower than that in other European countries should not be underestimated. In the Balearics there has been a large increase in prices, yes, but the truth is that it has been greater in visitors' countries.
"It is more a question of the real value of the product rather than its price. As long as investment in the product continues and the quality of the offer is raised, customers will continue to be satisfied. I would be concerned if the quality were deteriorating, but we are not seeing anything like that. On the contrary, the tourist satisfaction rate is very high."
9 comments
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Morgan WilliamsI think you will find that Mr Perriman returned to the U.K. as he had a bad case of tongue in cheek, an ailment not well known in Spain.. They are though experts in treating people whose hair has been taken.
Stephen PerrimanSo, you're nonresident then? Because otherwise if you're not feeling well, you can just go into your neighbourhood clinic or any hospital and get the same treatment, usually within an hour max. And not pay a penny. I never do. I understand it can take weeks to get a GP appointment in the UK. Not here. But yes, if you don't live here, then naturally you'd need to go back to your country of residence to receive routine "free" healthcare... or go here and pay ... or use your EHIC card. But if it's an emergency, you can still go to any hospital here and get immediate treatment.
Zoltan TeglasSo basically, you are quite happy to publicly accuse a political party of corruption based on a chat you had with a stranger in your local bar. Worth remembering.
The health service in Majorca is just about adequate and not a patch on the UK NHS which is world class and far ahead in both treatments and research. Spain and the EU just does not have the money to spend on healthcare that the UK does. I was feeling decidedly unwell last October and swiftly booked a taxi to the airport,changed my flight and 3 hours later I was having a full 90 minute check up with my local NHS doctor and with no fees to pay. Also by flying home immediately I got first class medical care and did not need to burden the Majorca health system.
Richard PearsonA source for what? It's my opinion, and the vast majority of people who live here I would guess, from all the conversations I have.
James TI agree with those sentiments with the following exceptions: All sources of water in Mallorca are not ideal. From the ground, from the sea... the base water quality leaves a lot to be desired, but short of two daily tankers arriving with water from Switzerland, it's not going to improve. But you can get home water purifying systems that will change all that. Or just live with it. Endesa is a monopoly, but for less than the cost of having endesa grid service installed, you can have an off-grid solar power system that will power your entire house continuously, good weather or bad, even when endesa grid fails. Healthcare here is amongst the best in the world. Including A&E. NHS can only dream...
Zoltan TeglasSource ?
It's welcome that the hotel chains are investing in improving the quality of their offering, but government has to invest in road and rail capacity, water and electrical infrastructure and services like police and A&E medical services too.
Well yes, for about 5 months of the year there are far too many tourists and the new government are going to make it worse by building more (not needed)hotels just for short term greed.