Palma31/07/2020 00:24
Majorca was once a relative industrial and agricultural powerhouse. Inca was the shoe capital of the island; Manacor was famous for its furniture; Soller was the orange capital. Over the years the local economy has become focused almost completely on tourism as these industries declined.
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The economy is on its knees and the hotels are trying to force businesses staring at bankruptcy to invest. Exactly where is this money coming from? BTW DB don't forget to keep us up to date on melias fine for the antics at Nikki Beach.
For too long there has been too much emphasis on making as much out of the tourists as possible (eco tax, exorbitant charges to hire a safe in a hotel bedroom etc) and forget your traditions, we've seen it over the many years we've been coming. Get back to your grass roots. Welcome tourists as friends not as cash cows and show us the traditions and care once again that we used to love about you. Speaking of the eco tax would now not be a good time to stimulate tourism by scrapping it. ?
In the past, I put forward several ideas to make Mallorca better. None have been developed because Tourism was King. Now I am not going to restate my ideas. But suggest the bulletin puts the idea out for general suggestions, from all those living on the Island. How can we get Mallorca up and running on completely new ideas and prospective businesses?
I agree with Yogi, returning to the past is not the way forward. What do you envisage Brett, people in traditional attire, performing their skills for gazing tourists that just crawled out of their tour busses? Sounds like another tourist attraction to me. Anything else, will be economically un-viable. What Yogi says is the way to go. Set ambitious goals and fund them properly. Take away money from irrelevant stuff, like all these art subsidies and god knows what craft groups and folklore dancing pods. If people want to see that: pay for it. Invest in logistics, glass fibre, solar power, energy consumption reduction and ecology. That gives this island a future, also with less tourism or when Covid-20 turns up.
returning to the past isn’t the way forward. those skills may still have relevance today but those old markets are long gone. Innovation is the key. Encourage, nuture and develop an entrepreneurial culture. Get rid of the autonomo. Simplify the tax system. Encourage banks to loan to fledgling businesses which meet diversification criteria. Focus on quality tourism and a quality model. Aim high. A fossil fuel free island by 2030? We’ve got more sun and wind than we know what to with, Vamos Mallorca!
Jason, good point to discuss. One major industry you seem to be forgetting, probably worth more than all the shoes, oranges and furniture: the yachting industry. Mallorca is the (super) yacht hub of the Med and employs directly and indirectly ten of thousands of people and is only partly tourism related. But, plans are to a even heavier taxation to these "yachtie" companies from the Port Authority. Effectively making invoices plus 24% (IVA + this new tax), as obviously it will be charged on to clients. Are they on a self destruct course here?? This is about the WORST time ever, to introduce such a tax. Hopefully, when they have swept the arrested Port Authority management under the carpet, the new management will have the vision to realise this tax is one greedy step too much.
Maybe before all the maestros die of old age, the local government should set up training schemes using their expertise in reviving the old industries of shoe making, glass blowing, palm string making etc.. We need to rely less on China and encourage local sustainable industry and create more local jobs.