WINTER TOURISTS

FULL marks to Hugh Morgan of the Monarch/Cosmos Group for his attack on the local authorities yesterday for not doing enough to help winter tourism.

If the local authorities seriously want the Balearics to become an all year-around holiday destination they must work with the tour firms and airlines to ensure that they get all the support they need. The airlines have quite wrongly been blamed for the severe shortage of flights this winter but really it is the local authorities who are at fault for not ensuring that there are flights to the major European capitals during the low season. Everyone agrees that there is plenty to do and see in Majorca during the winter season, so why aren't the local authorities making a real effort? A decade ago Magalluf was packed with winter tourists who had come to the island to spend the festive season. Now, it is like a ghost town. Why? Majorca can´t survive with a holiday season which lasts just four months. It is an outrageous state of affairs. If Majorca wants to kiss goodbye to the recession the local authorities must start to get their act together. Work with the airlines and tour operators and try and persuade them to re-introduce their winter programmes. Majorca is a fantastic place to live 12 months of the year. Isn't it a shame that these days the only people who know about the joys of this island during the low season are the people who actually live here. What a great pity.