TOURISM BLUES

By Jason Moore THE summer season once started on May 1 and finished on October 31. It lasted six months and this meant that the thousands of seasonal employees could work for six months and receive unemployment benefit for the winter. It was a well tried system which was successful. Unfortunately, over the last few years the season has been getting shorter and this year it is barely going to last three months (hotels will be closing in some parts of Magalluf and Palmanova over the next few weeks). This will mean that a sizeable number of hotel staff will not receive their jobless benefit throughout the winter. This summer season will be one to forget but the writing was already on the wall last winter. The local authorities need to mount a major effort this winter to try and revive the tourist industry. We can´t have a three month tourist season again. Now, is the time to try and get more winter tourists, more tourists coming down on weekend breaks and above all more traditional package holidaymakers. Can be done? Well, it is certainly going to require plenty of hard work and imagination. The Balearics needs to show great determination and dig deep because otherwise we are facing a major crisis situation.