Humphrey Carter01/10/2016 00:00
TW
4

We have been told so many times by Majorcan tourism experts, including ministers for tourism that Majorca is in the DNA of the British. However, they seem to forget that holidays, especially family ones, depend on how much money is in people’s wallets.

Yes, the numbers this year, when it comes to bums on beaches and sun loungers, have been record breaking but the verdict is still out on money spent in resorts. Based on what I have been told over the past few months, it has not been much: certainly not a record amount.

And as winter sets in, people in northern Europe, not just the UK, will start to think about where to go on holiday next summer. The brochures are on the shelves and the television channels are full of advertisements but Majorca could get its fingers burned.

Over the past few years, money has been invested in improving the quality of hotels and services, but the Balearics as a whole has been the main beneficiary of security concerns in competing resorts.

Certain destinations are calming down while others, in particular Greece, have worked extremely hard at promoting tourism, bringing prices down and working with the overseas markets and airlines so everybody gets want they want. It worked this summer and no doubt will work even better next year.

Majorcan hoteliers have put their rates up by around 15 per cent for next year, while the pound has lost ten per,cent of its value, so a Majorcan package holiday right now costs 25 per cent more for 2017. A family could save nearly 50 per cent by going to Greece and it will not be long before Turkey and Egypt are back up and running - not to mention the Caribbean - and offering great deals.