Thoughts for the future

MAJORCA appears to be back as Britain´s favourite holiday spot. British tour firms have underlined what a successful season the island has enjoyed. But, there is a small note of caution. This year the Balearics received thousands of holidaymakers who were due to go to resorts in North Africa. Many of the additional 400'000 British tourists who came to the Balearics were set for a holiday far away from Majorca, but instead they came here. It has been an unusual season.

Now, next year, perhaps Tunisia and Egypt will be back to normal again and competing against the Balearics for British tourism. The islands can´t be complacent. The 400'000 additional tourists who came here this year, must be back again in 2012. What is evident is that a growing number of hotels in the Balearics are going to offer all inclusive packages. This appears to be the future. Restaurants, bars and shops must learn to live with this new type of holiday. Some hoteliers are even talking about transforming their businesses into residential complexes.

This will be another challenge for the future. Judging by the comments being made at the ABTA convention Majorca is well placed and will continue to be Britain´s top holiday spot for many years to come. This is good news. But this doesn´t mean that we can just sit back and wait for the tourists to come. There is plenty of competition across the globe and Majorca must be very aware of this state of affairs.