31/10/2013 00:00
TW
0

Dear Sir,

I rather think that there needs to be a little more objective and verifiable evidence than Wellies closing for one day a week, to justify the banner headline: No winter flights hits businesses (Tuesday 25 October 2011).

It does, however, typify Jason Moore's tireless campaign to have the island's tourism run according to his dystopic agenda.

A cursory glance at some of the pages of the Daily Bulletin, would suggest that Britons were the only tourists to set foot here; that there are no shops or facilities open anywhere in Palma on a Sunday; that the entire island closes down from November to April; that budget airlines don't know their markets and that Majorca tourism is missing a big trick in not promoting Majorca 24/7, 365 days a year.

These editorial opinions frequently appear side by side with seemingly contradictory information, such as: “ Almost 550'000 cruise tourists visited ports in the Balearic Islands between January and June this year, generating 36.6 million euros worth of business ... the third highest economic benefits from the cruise industry.” (p.5, Tuesday 25 October 2011)
Clearly, the cruise industry is not affected by the lack of winter flights from some UK airports, nor, it would seem, is the steady stream of German, Scandinavian, Spanish, French and other nationality visitors to the island.

I am willing to be corrected on this, but it seems to me that this situation is not entirely new.
Airlines have always cut back on flights from UK to Majorca over the winter period; there never has been a clearly defined winter tourist season and businesses have always taken time to refresh themselves over this time. There is a very real danger of an English language newspaper, solely reflecting a rather parochial view of life on the island from the British, mostly English, perspective.

In doing so it perpetuates myths about the British community abroad, but, more pertinently, it gives space and credibility to narrow, self-interested issues such as the winter-flights campaign and non-stop tourism.

Brian Roberts
Palma