12/04/2013 00:00
TW
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By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
IT appears that the Balearics, and Spain in general, may be losing its battle to try and curb the growth of all-inclusive hotels.
This week, one of the UK's leading tour operators announced that is to make all its holidays all-inclusive from summer 2012.
First Choice has said it will be the first major firm in Britain to cater exclusively for this market.
It claimed the move was a response to popularity, with such packages currently accounting for 65 percent of its sales.
Over the past few years, all of the UK's major tour operators have noticed a marked return to popularity of package holidays because of the recession and the demise of small operators which have often left hundreds of holiday makers stranded in their destinations.

And, the recession has helped in making all-inclusive packages, originally designed for the Caribbean, increasingly popular across Europe. The new First Choice holidays will include flights, all hotel meals and drinks and any in-resort transfers.

The company's Christian Cull told Sky News: “It's very popular with families...they want to know what they're getting. We're listening to what our customers are telling us they want”.

But, while all-inclusive may be what the British public want it is not what resort businesses prefer and there are questions as to whether or not the change could have a negative effect on local economies.

Holiday makers spending little or nothing in surrounding businesses fail to help communities abroad which rely on tourism.
And, we have already heard the complaints growing from resort businesses here in Majorca over the past few years about the negative affect the growth of the all-inclusive market is having on their trade.

The Balearic government has attempted to address the issue but it is out of its hands because travel trends change and the tour operators have to respond to the demands of their clients.

Even tourism bodies such as Aito and Tourism Concern have expressed their concerns confirming that all-inclusive contribute very little to the local economies because holiday makers tend to stay in their resort complex.