23/03/2013 00:00
TW
0
By Jason Moore WHILE, I am the first to say that it is better to be upbeat than downbeat I suspect that some people are getting rather carried away when they say that Majorca can look forward to a good summer season this year (the best ever some say). Let us not forget that we are in the middle of a credit crunch and the value of the pound sterling against the euro has decline by about 10 percent. Then there are the competing resorts in the eastern Mediterranean which appear to have gone into over-drive, there are cruises and plenty more. So there are many factors which could clearly halt all the joy about the holiday season. If British tourists are getting less for their pounds then they will probably spend less; the Germans already find the island expensive and mainland Spaniards have less to spend because of the higher interest rates. I have also been rather alarmed by the fact that quite a sizeable number of hotels are opening for Easter only to close again early next month and re-open when the summer season gets into full swing. Overall, it is not a very rosey picture. To make matters worse, winter tourism this year, has been very limited indeed.

I suspect that many within the tourist industry would be happy if the island had a similar season as last year with a record number of tourists but with a limited spending power. And there is the football and the Olympics. So summer´08 is certainly going to test Majorca to the full.

However, this island has plenty in its favour and let us just hope that those people who are upbeat now continue to be so in September or even October.