Jason MoorePalma06/03/2019 21:02
TW

Aren't the promotion campaigns for the Balearics on British TV fantastic? What, you haven't seen them? Well unfortunately no one has because they are not happening even though it is a crucial time for holiday bookings and the Balearic government did say they would be promoting the islands in Britain to counterbalance the impact of Brexit. At the moment we are looking at a sizeable fall in the number of British tourists heading to our shores and there is talk of a 10 per cent drop in German tourists. To put the 10 per cent figure in perspective, we are talking of a fall of about 400,000 German tourists.

The alarm bells are ringing but you get the impression that local politicians of all parties are too concerned about the local elections. It will not be a question of everything will be all right on the night. German and British tourists are going elsewhere because, for some, the islands have become too expensive. Turkey and the resorts in North Africa are proving to be exceptionally popular. Let's face it, the state of the tourism industry should be the number one priority of the local authorities. Without tourists the local economy will suffer. The Balearic government should be promoting the islands in Britain and Germany. It is time for action. Perhaps the local government should even be looking carefully at the tourist tax and whether it should be scaled back to weather the storm. If there is a big drop in tourism the local economy will suffer.