Changing times

YESTERDAY we carried out our holiday survey in the Palmanova area. Our two young reporters who have been carrying out the survey returned and said that all the tourists they had been talking to had been wearing the all-inclusive bracelet. “There were plenty of tourists about but the majority of businesses were empty,” was their general concensus of opinion. Unfortunately, this is the problem with all inclusive holidays in a nut.-shell. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of hotels on the island which are offering this type of package. Many believe it is the future. But not if you own a bar or a restaurant in a tourist resort. I can fully understand why people take out an all inclusive holiday. In these hard times you need to limit the amount of money you spend when you are on holiday. But for the bars and restaurants it is very hard. I can see the number of hotels offering all inclusive package continuing to rise in the coming years and the bars and restaurants will continue to suffer. Perhaps the only way forward is for bars and restaurants to actually form part of the all inclusive package. This appears to be the only way forward. There is talk at the moment of one major tour operator going completely all inclusive. If one does it, others will certainly follow. There is no going back. It is a fact of life. The face of Majorcan tourism is changing and the consequences could be enormous. All inclusive is here and we have to live with it.