Mayor of Calvia urges hotels to stay open

The Mayor of Calvia and President of the Federation of Balearic Local Councils, Margarita Nájera, called on hoteliers to be socially responsible and not close en-masse this winter. She said yesterday that the majority decision by Majorcan hotel owners to close this winter “is bad news.” She pointed out that over the past decade, the hotel sector has enjoyed massive financial gain and should try and stay open. Nájera stressed that it not just a question of remaining open, but also of keeping people in jobs and maintaining local economic activity. She said that the hotel sector plays a vital role in the general welfare and well being in the Balearics and cannot decide to operate only when things are going well. “You have got to think about the medium and long term,” she told hotel owners, adding that closing this winter will merely cause short term problems for everyone involved in the tourist industry. She called on the hotel sector “to be strong” and draw on the huge profits made over the past ten years. “In order for a company to do exceptionally well, it has to be able to ride the market when things are going slightly wrong,” she said. However, hotels have already started to close their doors and some of the large chains are concentrating their clients in a handfull of hotels in order to ensure maximum capacity and minimum over staffing.