Jason MoorePalma08/11/2017 00:00
TW
1

Who do you believe - the politicians or the businesspeople? The Balearic government says that the islands shouldn’t fear cut-price Turkey while the hoteliers are not so convinced. So who is right? I will sit on the fence and say they are both right.

We have heard it all before as President Francina Armengol has said, but it is true that Turkey has some fantastic hotels which are 50 per cent cheaper than the Balearics. British tourists will also be watching their pennies and Turkey is cheaper than the eurozone.

I agree with the hoteliers that this is perhaps not the best time to raise the rate of the tourist tax and maybe the islands should be looking for value for money rather than increasing prices. I am told that holiday sales to the Balearics are down for next year but of course it is early days. So we will just have to wait. Perhaps the euphoria of recent years is coming to an end and Turkey will give the Balearic Islands a run for their money.

But above all competition is good, it keeps people at the top of their game. The Balearics have faced competition before and won hands down. So Turkey may be a threat but I don’t think the alarm bells should be ringing just yet. Majorca and the Balearics have everything under the sun; Turkey may be a delight for some but not all.