Tourism blues

By Jason Moore THERE were banner headlines in yesterday's Spanish newspapers quoting government officials as saying that four million German tourists would be coming to the Balearics this summer. This, as we know, is an all time record. Meanwhile, there was another headline which suggested that local hoteliers are deeply concerned about the profitability of their businesses even though four million Germans are coming to the island this year. While, I understand that the local government likes to be upbeat it might be interesting to know what is the average cost of a holiday in Majorca in Germany at the moment. Judging by what the hoteliers are saying it must be quite low. It wasn't so long ago, either, that the local government was claiming that the Balearics didn't want four million holidaymakers; it wanted one million who spent the same as the four million. I wonder what has happened to this policy, it must have been filed under “B” for Bin, I suspect. What has happened to this push for quality tourism? Less numbers more cash per capita? But I will tell you something. The local government official who made this announcement could make more money telling people's fortune, because one thing that I know about the travel industry is that no-one books their summer holiday in March anymore. So we are still non-the-wiser. What is worrying though is the profitability of local companies if they aren't making money and recruiting people then the local economy will suffer.