Calvia counting the cost of fall in the German tourist market

The way in which the German media handled the Balearic water crisis was yesterday blamed for the seven percent fall in the number of German holidaymakers staying in Calvia this summer. The drop in tourists was revealed yesterday by the President of the Paguera-Cala Fornells Hotel Association, Luis Carrasco. He said that one of the main factors behind the slump in an area which has been predominantly German for the past few years was the way the German press reported the water crisis. Carrasco also admitted that last March, during the ITB International Tourism Fair in Berlin, “with the help of the Mayor, Margarita Nájera, we had to slip away from demonstrations.” He also spoke of the numerous telephone calls his Association has received over the long hot summer from Germans worried about the water shortage after reading the alarmist reports in the country's top selling daily newspaper Bild. During the summer months hotel occupation in the two resorts extremely popular with the Germans, levelled out at 90 percent, seven percent down on last year's figures. However, Carrasco did admit yesterday that this month is proving to be their local hoteliers' saving grace with hotels 100 percent full. “The bad run has come to an end,” he said and he added that bookings for Christmas and Three Kings are looking healthy.