Shopping sells

The Balearic government and the local authorities are using sporting tourism as one of their principal weapons in the battle to attract winter tourists. Cycling and hiking are the two main elements of their winter holiday drive but if you are not an avid sportsperson then there is not much appeal. What the local authorities haven’t fully understood yet is the appeal of shopping. Let’s face it, most of us love shopping and if the prices are low then so much the better. Take last week, high street stores were discounting like mad for Black Friday. In most cases items were down by at least 50 per cent. Take into account that sterling has risen against the euro by 30 per cent in the last year and British tourists are on to a real bargain. “Christmas shopping in Palma” could be just one of the campaigns which could be launched, and don’t forget that the New Year sales start just after Three Kings, so you could package-up both events in a New Year break. And then of course there is culinary tourism. Marc Fosh’s Michelin-star restaurant in Palma offers lunch for under 20 euros, which works out at just 15 pounds for British tourists (the price of fish and chips a beer in a London pub). Now obviously, one of the biggest problems with winter tourism is the weather ... so we have to use our imagination. For some, the fact that they can buy a designer jacket at half price is more appealing than cycling up to Formentor. Shopping quite literally sells!