Editorial: Zero spending

PETER Long is a well-known and respected figure in the British travel industry. I first met him when he was a senior executive with Air Europe but he is now the Chief Executive of the travel giant TUI. This week, he was quoted as saying that “Customers like all-inclusive holidays particularly with the economic environment we’ve seen in the UK in the past three or four years. The reality is, they can get off the plane  and not  open their wallet again.” Unfortunately that rather sums-up all inclusive holidays, they are brilliant for the tourist but awful for the resort business owner who has to pay the mortgage.  If you can leave your wallet or  purse at home you are effectively saying that you will not be spending any money in the resort.  And that is the story so far. Bars and restaurants have seen their takings nose-dive and calls for these holidays to be regulated have fallen on deaf ears. Does Majorca really want tourists who can leave their wallets at home because everything has been prepaid? Well the answer is no.  And it is a definite no. Thousands of people are employed in the bar and restaurant trades in the resorts and their future livelihood is at stake. Majorca is a beautiful island which is just two hours flying time away from Britain and Germany. It has more to offer than just all inclusive holidays. If other competing resorts, want to go all inclusive, well let them, but Majorca has more to offer and it will be sad if it became just an all-inclusive hotel island.