Balearics under pressure to drop prices

The President of the Association of Spanish Resort Hotels (ZONTUR), Jose G. Diaz Montañes admitted yesterday that there is a great deal of concern in the Balearic hotel sector “because nobody knows what's going to happen from today.” Montañes said that apart from the uncertainty caused by the tourist tax, the condition of the holiday market is not clear, adding that unless Balearic holiday sales in the United Kingdom and Germany start to move quickly, in Britain especially, the high street will be the setting for a price war; which is what the Balearic hotel sector does not want this summer. President of the Playa de Muro hotel association, Jose Luna said that in some cases, holiday prices are being cut by 30 per cent and that the leading tour operators are starting to lean on hoteliers in a bid to pressure them into dropping their prices. However, many hoteliers who suffered from low bookings for May and June are unable to cut their prices. “We have lost the mid season and all that remains is to save in July, August and September,” Luna said. Luna also claims that the outlook for the coming winter season is very poor and that some hotels have already closed their winter contracts with the tour operators. Luna said that the poor tourism figures for this summer and next winter will contradict all the Balearic government's forecast tourism figures as there will be less tourists staying less nights, therefore less tourist tax funds being raised. “Nobody knows what's going to happen in Majorca today with the tourist tax, we're going to have to wait at least a week and then assess the effects,” Luna said. Another area of concern which surfaced at the Spanish travel fair STEPS in London is the drop in quality services. Head of the Spanish Quality Tourism Institute, Eduardo Gamero, called on the Balearic service and tourism sectors to make sure that “high standards are maintained, despite the tourist tax or a reduction in tourists or a price war.”