The golden ticket aspired to by employees is a five-day week with two consecutive days off. They want their share of tips left in cash or on credit cards. They want an ‘end of season’ profit share or bonus. They want a safe working environment and no pressure to work overtime. If accommodation is provided as part of the package, they want to be able to live and relax in the space. A bed, in a dormitory is not acceptable. There are employers who meet all these criteria and then there are the others.
Local business chatter is currently about ‘August’. This is the month of the traditional family holiday with children. The cancellations have begun, as the latest interest rise in the UK and the effect it will have on mortgage repayments, is being anticipated. Last year the family season was great, as families, sick of the Covid restrictions, flocked here. They had a bit of money saved from Covid days and they were going to spend and have family gatherings in the sun. This year that pot of money is gone and the new rates for mortgages mean a sharp intake of breath. ‘Can we really afford that holiday?’ is the question. Flights and the total amount it costs to bring mum, dad and two children here, is changing plans.
Against all this is the steady increase of American and Canadian arrivals. Visitors from other countries are not having the same financial hard time as the UK. New markets open all the time and my own chats with a group of young people from Taiwan last weekend was a case in point. This group were on their first experience of travelling to Europe after they finished their four years in university. After the holidays they were returning to Taipei to take up jobs in computer science and analytics. They told me of a huge desire to discover Europe amongst all their friends.
Recent weddings in the Gardens of Alfabia are another example of visitors coming from the rest of the world. 150 people from Singapore celebrated a wedding at this location last week. The previous week I was involved in one in Alfabia where half the guests were from Nigeria. Many of my wedding celebrant colleagues tell me, they too, are surprised at where people are coming from. Mallorca is definitely one of the wedding locations of the world for those who can afford it.
This island and its tourism interests are well used to changing with whatever the world throws at them. It maybe that family holidays from the UK in August will decline for a time. Airlines, hotels and restaurants all have a part to play in whether they want to have that tourism from the UK, knowing that recession and difficult times are round the corner.
Change is hard but also can be very exciting. A challenge for all the providers of tourism to think outside the box. Tourism as a concept is still growing and has become what it currently is, in the space of about 60 years. Flying changed everything and became the driver of the adventures we have all been able to have. Evolution doesn’t stop and looking for the new tourists and creating new experiences is the challenge for this generation of tourism experts.
The Soller Valley will be part of that change and will do a great job.
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I don't really know for sure if there's any measurable decline in British tourism other than what you read about. We don't get many British tourists outside the handful of resorts traditionally popular with Brits. Yet according to their posts on TripAdvisor, British visitors to Magaluf seem to think it's just as heaving as usual. Nonetheless, I'd have to agree with your assessment, as it's precisely what I've observed in the rest of the island. Despite all the doom and gloom expressed by a handful of wishful thinkers.