BRITISH PLUG GERMAN GAP IN CALA MILLOR

OUT of the total of 70 hotels in Cala Millor, just ten are open this winter, five less than last winter.
President of the Cala Millor Hotel Federation, Antoni Roig, says that he and his members are deeply concerned about the situation and what is making it worse is that most of the people using the handful of hotels open, are local residents staying for a weekend or pensioners. Roig says that the overseas winter market, which in Cala Millor is predominantly German, has all but vanished. “Eighty percent of our clients come from Germany, but we're now paying for the recession and the Balearics' poor image in Germany,” he says.
Roig added that many hotels have had to turn to the British and French markets to survive while others are looking to the new emerging markets in Eastern Europe. “What the Balearics has to start realising is that we are losing money and we can't continue to do so for much longer,” he added.
With regards to summer 2004, Roig says that things are looking up, adding that the local government's decision to plough millions of euros into renovating resorts has been warmly welcomed by the local tourist and business communities. “There's room here for everyone,” he says “but we've got to be more competitive.”