The tourism season having come to an end, and Mallorca's politicians and tourism industry representatives joined the late-season stragglers on the last remaining flights off the island. They were off to London for the World Travel Market, their combined numbers somewhat diminished compared to pre-pandemic days. Largely missing from the ranks were town hall delegations, the new normality requiring that they stay put and conserve municipal treasuries for spending on food banks rather than on a couple of days out in old London town.
All-year Mallorca
Mallorca's message in London was loud and clear. All-year British tourism was to be attracted. Mallorca is a year-round training ground. Sports tourism products will create their own "high season". "We want to become the headquarters of European active tourism. This will allow us to lengthen the season to the fullest," observed the Council of Mallorca's tourism councillor, Andreu Serra.
Cala Alpine
A year-round training ground the island undoubtedly is, and with year-round facilities to match. The possibilities for all-weather training were highlighted when politicians and tourism industry representatives managed to get flights back to Mallorca in time for a massive hailstorm that hit the island's northeast and left Cala Ratjada looking like the Alps. Or possibly the Tramuntana.
A good feeling
Still in London, and President Armengol said that she had "a good feeling" about 2022. "The season will start earlier and we will be able to recover the level of British tourism as it was in 2019." So, all eyes were being turned to next year, while some might just have recalled that the season now finished was due to have been extended. That'll be 2022 then, as Sr. Serra explained that "next year, a large number of hoteliers have signed up to our plan to open in February and remain open well into the winter, if not staying open all year". Fantastic. Just need to have a word with the airlines now.
No more drunken tourists
The president's good feelings were, however, not being reserved for drunken tourists. Booze tourism, tourism of excess - call it what you prefer - will no longer be tolerated, though if the president had Magalluf in mind, the mayor of Calvia suggested that the negative image had already been eradicated.
If there are to be no drunken Brits next season, will this mean that the 2019 level of British tourism is recovered? We will see, as indeed we will see how Punta Ballena is next year.
Covid certificate and Covid concerns
Back to the post-season realities in Mallorca, and the health ministry noted that the Covid certificate as a requirement for gaining entrance to bars and restaurants couldn't be ruled out. The certificate for this purpose had been ruled out because of court rulings, but a Supreme Court decision had ruled it back in. Having this requirement, the ministry suggested, would be preferable to re-imposing restrictions if Covid numbers demanded measures.
In which case, it may well become a reality. The numbers of cases weren't high, but they were showing signs of going up, and the coordinator of the vaccination programme, Eugenia Carandell, voiced her concern about them going up much more in December because of the different holidays.
The rich and the not so rich
The employment figures will take a downward turn now that the season has ended, but the numbers for October brought some good news - 73,500 more people in work than in October last year. So it was positive to learn that workers are earning something, just as it was positive to discover from Forbes magazine that Spain's richest people have now put the worst of the impact of the pandemic behind them. We all breathed a great sigh of relief, given that island hotelier fortunes had slumped by anything between 100 million and 1,800 million euros to a mere 900 million or 1,200 million.
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