Local hotels are equipped for World Cup

MOST hotels in Majorca are already equipped for offering World Cup matches to their guests this summer, a spokesman for the hoteliers federation said yesterday. Earlier this week, the local tourism authorities said they would launch projects such as giant video screens on beaches and in squares, in view of an expected drop in German visitors between June 9 and July 9 when the World Cup will be held there. A drop in English visitors is also expected if England makes it to the final. The hoteliers' spokesman praised the authorities for taking steps to prevent the problem, and said that the determining factor will be the tour operators, especially those which handle British and German tourism. Francisco Marin, chairman of the Playa de Palma hoteliers association, where 75 per cent of the visitors are German, said that last summer, they offered Bundesliga matches, with positive results. Most of the hotels, he said, already had giant screens 1.8 by 1.8 metres, or even bigger. The German tour operator TUI has already announced that it will offer German tourists the chance to watch the matches live on giant screen, as well as free beer at most of the Balearic hotels with which it works.