A 10 percent fall in one of your principal markets should get the alarm bells ringing but not in the Balearics. A 13 percent drop in another key market should be cause for some concern. But not in the Balearics. In the Balearics a big rise in German tourism has meant that visitor numbers to the islands remained in positive territory in July.
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The impact is significant in resorts where there is a greater proportion of British tourists, owners and and residents. The old town and port of Pollença have been much more quiet this year. So much so that that the atmosphere has been depressingly quiet. There is worse to come for local businesses until that area replaces Brits with other nationalities
ChappyWho are you referring to? Who is “he”?
As with all these political people, it’s do as I say, not do as I do. Shameful, he should be sacked
KarlosYes, as I said, the under 30's groups of party animals is not specific to nationality. But there are certain behaviours that are consistent with certain nationalities. Brits tend to be amongst the more price sensitive, yet are amongst the most expensive to accommodate, more complicated, and complain a lot. Germans (and other Europeans) tend to be famously clean and orderly, are more inclined to book on the basis of what most suits them, rather than the cheapest, and tend to be less complicated. And less expensive to accommodate. "Deutsche Sauberkeit" Look it up. Although on the other hand, many Germans can be *irritatingly* orderly; park on the street at a slight angle and Germans are more likely to say "hey, you need to park straight". Leave your rubbish bins out of order, Germans are likely to point it out to you. Have a drink with some friends on the terrace after 22:00, and they'll call the police to tell you to stop. "Look, it's written here". Make noise on a Sunday, same thing. "Deutsche neidigkeit". Look it up. It's no secret. But at the end of the day, it makes them really desirable tourists. And that's why the hospitality business likes them so much. It's just good business to attract them.
Morgan WilliamsYou get the same kind of trashy people from every single country on this planet 'EVEN SPAIN' when I'm in Spain the last thing I want to hear is someone from my own country but that is not my choice we are all tourists, just got back from Barcelona this morning, i only saw 1 group of Brits of about 7 a bit rowdy, multiple groups of Germans of up to 15-16 people, extremely loud thinking they own the place, German hen doo literally crawling over guys who had their girlfriend's with them, the end of the day you get good and bad from everywhere.
I pity the poor sod who had to wade through that pile of rubbish before allowing it to be published.
I've been in hospitality for decades, but only about 20 years in Mallorca. So, I'm going to give you a bit of my experiences, and the experiences of others that I associate with that also have holiday lets or work in hotels. First, there are a few different types of tourist. One is the type that is coming to "let loose" and have a beachy (or private pool bash in the case of villas & fincas). Their goal is to party. drink, get crazy, have a great time. The other type is coming for a different reason. They're coming to relax, get away from the day to day life that they live, in a nicer climate, where they can just sit by the pool, read a book, go golfing, take a tour on horseback, see some pretty sights, maybe visit a museum. They mainly drink wine, but not excessively, so maybe they'll visit a vineyard and pick up a few bottles of nice wines. Now, neither of the above has much to do with nationality (with a few exceptions). There's a few guest profiles that anyone in hospitality has learned by experience, that you can expect "issues" with. One type is groups of under-30 yrs, of 6-12 people. They're not coming to relax. They're coming to party. They drink excessively, they don't pay much attention to cleanliness or order, they strew things about, they fall over and break things, they they spill drinks and leave food out on the countertops, they create mountains of rubbish (mostly liquor and beer bottles) and if there's something unique in the house, such as a stylish bathrobe, some cool beach towels, a good quality hair dryer, interesting candle holders, a book about Mallorca, etc., they'll be happy to pack it in their suitcase when they leave. Another type is they type that is "high maintenace". They don't like the colour of the pillowcases, and ask you to change them. They think it's too cold or too hot (and this can change by the minute). They've never seen a gecko before, and assume that it's some venomous reptile intent on killing and eating everybody in the house. They'll call you out to get rid of them. And other stuff. Obviously, these would not be most people's most desired guests. There's ways to avoid these types, but that's beyond the scope of this. Then there's things that certain nationalities consistently exhibit. In the case of British tourists, these are the commonly known behaviours: (generally, not always, but many - if not most - British tourists consistently exhibit these behaviours). First, in my experience, Brits are generally very friendly and polite, and so no problems there. BUT... Consistently with Brits, you can expect a complaint about something. It doesn't matter how good everything is, there will be *something*. But unlike any other nationality, Brits will never tell you so. They smile, tell you what a lovely time they had, then write all their complaints that you never heard about in their review. Mostly petty stuff. We rarely get British bookings, because Brits need British stuff, and we don't have much of that around here - although we have plenty of truly excellent dining, bars, boutique shops, supermarkets - everything you need, but they're not British. And when they do show up, they write that there "was nothing around", they had to drive to Palma (or Calvia). Right, then. Why didn't you just book something there? Brits need their English pub, Fish & Chips, Curry, and most importantly, they need to see other Brits when they go on holiday. Nothing wrong with that, but it explains why they overwhelmingly will be found where other Brits are. Outside of those handful of British enclaves, it's extremely rare to hear a British voice. But it also explains why most Brits assume that "Majorca" is a British dominant holiday destination. After all, you see almost nothing but Brits in Magaluf. So, when Brits do come, what do they come for? Generally it's because they *have* to - they're attending a wedding nearby or some other event, and need a local place to stay. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother. Other times, they're having a family holiday and just wanted to be away from the resort hubub. Which is fine. While there are other - often worse - guests, with Brits, you can pretty much expect the accommodation to be left in a less clean and more disorderly fashion than most other nationalities. I don't know if it's simply that Brits generally live that way, or that since they're on holiday and they paid for it, they can do whatever they want. So, we normally pay for a 3-4 hour cleaning, but with Brits, it's often going to be 5-7 hours. That gets expensive. Then, there's the spray on tanning thing. In my experience, we've never had any other nationality use those products. Or if they do, they wash them off before going to bed. I can understand it a bit - Brits rarely see the sun. They are generally very fair skinned and burn easily. So, rather than looking like a lobster, many Brits (especially women) will spray on their tan. It's much easier. And they look better for it. OK, that's fine. But with British guests, I can expect to toss some number of sheets and pillowcases, because even the best laundry service can't get it out. Our laundry service knows it well. They always ask, "English, right?". Yeah, we know. We only use the highest quality cotton sheets and pillowcases because the bulk of our guests do know the difference and cheap polyester sheets will be met with a complaint. They're expensive to replace. But there's more... I belong to a local "association" of others who run holiday lets. I put the word "association" in quotes because it's really just a social thing. We get together occasionally, often at a restaurant (sometimes at their holiday lets too), break bread, have some wine, joke, compare guest stories and so on... And every one of them agrees about British guests - especially the spray on tanning thing. One of the "members" has found a "solution": Whenever she is booked by British guests, she puts on the cheap polyester sheets and pillowcases - according to her, not one complaint about that. They complain about other stuff, but not that (we'd normally get slammed by guests for using polyester sheets, but maybe Brits don't know the difference?). Anyway, this stuff is no secret, nor some theory. It's well known in hospitality. I suppose if you run a place in a British resort, then all this would seem normal. And also why Brit resorts don't go to the trouble to use high quality items, or deliver a better quality experience for British guests. After all, just look at the narratives here - it's entirely about price for Brits, but you can't deliver 5 stars on a 3 star budget (and many Brits apparently don't know the difference anyway) - AND look where the majority of Brits go - They're not exactly the upper end of tourist resorts. The general expectation is that Brits seek price over quality, yet are amongst the more expensive to accommodate. It's hardly a secret. It's just a cost of doing business. And that explains why in the hospitality business, Brits really aren't the most preferred tourists. Others are less complicated and less expensive to accommodate, and aren't nearly as price sensitive. It's just good business to attract them.
Coming from a brit here, me and my partner don't wear fake tan and always respect the land and locals and follow rules, never been magaluff and don't ever plan on doing, we generally go to Palma, Germans on the other hand seem to be some of the rudest people we have come across, they have no idea how to queue they just push to the front no matter how big the line is, they take up the whole sidewalk/pavement and they don't try and move out of the way so you end up waking into the road, 60-70% of Germans we have come across have been rude and lack manners, just as bad as some brits!
Morgan Williams“And they don't wear spray on tanning products that ruin the towels, sheets and pillowcases” Not true, and this comes from an extremely authoritative and reliable source on the matter.
“They don't break stuff or steal things, and don't complain much (especially about petty stuff). And they don't wear spray on tanning products that ruin the towels, sheets and pillowcases” Nor do dogs.