EDITORIAL

THE tourist industry has welcomed the announcement that the tourist tax will be scrapped and there does appear to be greater confidence within the industry as a result of the change in government. As one waiter told me the other day “four more years of this lot (the rainbow coalition) and we might as well have turned the light off and gone home.” But what concerns me is that the tourist tax is only half the problem. There are deep problems within the industry which need to be resolved. A). Bar and restaurant staff need to be retrained and employees reminded that tourists pay their wages not the other way around.
B). A certain degree of price control should be introduced because the euro rip-off has now reached alarming levels in the Balearics. The Sunday Times already warned their readers on Sunday that they would get a shock when they saw some of the prices being charged on the continent.

C). There may be a change in government but people's attitudes to tourism remain the same. Don't forget that the majority of people living here backed the tourist tax and were in favour of fewer tourists. A sizeable proportion of the island's population still wants the industry curtailed quite considerably.

D). Finally, Majorca is a very beautiful island but so are other parts of the Mediterranean. This island is unique in its own way but there are also other very nice resorts close to these shores. What I am saying is that Majorca hasn't got a monopoly. It needs to get its act together and iron out some of the faults which have come about over the last eight years. The new leader, Jaume Matas, hasn't got a magic wand and scrapping the tourist tax may be a popular move but that is not going to restore the tourist industry to its former glory.