From her childhood summers in Spain, through the death of her dad Jacques Sasson, through the financial pressures of closure in COVID to the present day, Cathy Sasson has shown her resilience and inventiveness in business. On the eve of the opening of “Jacques” a new outdoor entertainment concept for Magalluf, we sat down to talk about where she’s come from and where she, and Globo Balear, are going.
What were you doing pre-Mallorca? “I was born in Cardiff, my secret claim to fame is that I can sing the Welsh national anthem! I spent every summer school holiday with my dad in Benidorm where he had his businesses, so I spoke Spanish from an early age. I went to University in Florida where I studied Humanities and then I moved back to live in the UK. I was running my property development business when I decided to move to Mallorca to support my dad. I hadn’t “found my calling” as you would say in property, but it was successful. When I moved to live on the island I had just had my second child, Jac (who is now 18) and I had my daughter Grace who is 20, and now I also have Jamie who is 13, and I am married to my husband Gary. My dad died in 2010, five years after I moved to Mallorca.
What is your first memory of the show “Pirates’ Adventure”? My first memory is of being about 10 or 11 and my dad telling me the story of good and evil about Pirates on the high seas. He had an idea that if it made me happy and interested it would make other families happy. I think he was testing me out with his plan.
Cathy with her dad Jacques.
What do you think is the legacy that your father left behind in Mallorca? Calvia named a square after my father. He was here at the start of the growth of Magalluf, one of the old boys. When he sold his hotel chain in Benidorm he was the first person to sell an external excursion to Thomson/Tui and the first person to bring in the “all - inclusive” as a concept. So Mallorca was almost a fun retirement project for him. People stop me in the street all the time to tell me stories about my dad, he’s always with me. I can hear his words sometimes coming out of my mouth as well. He had a very naughty side to him!
What was it like to take over the business when your dad passed away? I had two kids to bring up and I had just got divorced. The business wasn’t in the best shape when I inherited it. My dad had made some bad business decisions due I think to the onset of Alzheimer’s and I knew no better. So I just got on with a job that I felt a huge responsibility to do, failure wasn’t an option. I had no relevant business background, and no clue really what I was doing, but what I did have, and still do, was my father’s drive. There are no mistakes, just lessons. You have to remember that.
What is your role in Globo Balear? I guess I would say I’m the ideas person and the glue that holds it together. My job is to keep pushing the business forward in whatever way I can. To keep looking at trends and new things coming through. I need to encourage and inspire the team to implement them. I’m the Captain but I can’t hoist the sails alone, my job is to tell the team when the sails will need to go up.
Do you feel the island has recovered from the financial effects of COVID? I think there have been some huge blows to the island. I think we could have done with a more business savvy government and help for businesses, but the strong survive and with all of this a change of face has come. It’s evolution in a commercial way.
How challenging is it to respond to the new tourist markets in Mallorca? I like to constantly keep up with trends. I’m an avid podcast listener and traveller and I am always looking for the next big thing. I introduced Gringos Bingo and that has been incredibly successful. It’s in my blood as we are as an innovative family. I think anything that brings more quality and improvements to Magaluf is a good thing. Globo Balear has been part of the changes and the introduction of the new outdoor space at Pirates Theatre is part of the ongoing improvements. We have called it “Jacques” after my father, and it will be an immersive space where people can go for a drink before they go in to watch Reloaded. It’s going to be the perfect warm up for Reloaded, which we are changing into a “Club-Show Experience”.
Reloaded is being relaunched for 2023.
How have you developed the shows for 2023? We don’t want to touch what has gone from strength to strength, just do it better. I go with what the market determines. I tell myself everyday it doesn’t matter if I like it, what is important is will my customers like it? It’s important to pay attention to what “Wows” them. In Pirates Adventure and Reloaded I’ve found that the interaction with the cast is what makes the audience feel part of the fun and the action is key. We have a brilliant new drag artist for this year, Polly Glamorous, who will be hosting Reloaded and I am excited to see how the audience reacts. We will have Live DJ Sets from Woody Cook, Ben Rainey, Charlie Sloth, Judge Jules, Billie Clements and Marty Guilfoyle in May and June for Reloaded, and I am excited to see how that works and how the audiences react to them. You can book on our website now for those events. www.piratesreloaded.com
Several top name DJs will be playing at Reloaded in May and June.
As an audience member you need to lose yourself in the show. It makes no difference if you’re five years old and watching our Adventure Show or 22 and dancing like your life depended on it at Gringos Bingo or 50 and feeling the wind rush past your face as an aerialist flies past your table. You need to be in awe of their performances and that’s when the magic happens.
Describe your perfect day in Mallorca That’s easy. Spending the day with my children and my amazing husband. All I need is Mallorca and them = PERFECT.
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