11/05/2013 00:00
TW
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By Humphrey Carter

PALMA
CALVIA Council is being warned by a Destination Expert for the globally used and highly valued on line travel information website Trip Advisor to make sure that this summer there is no repeat of the problems caused by prostitution in the municipality's resorts last year.

Dean Butler, has contacted Calvia Council on a number of occasions since February warning the authorities of the potentially serious damage the prostitution problem is going to cause the resorts but has now forwarded copies of his emails to the Bulletin after having received no serious response from Calvia Council. “I still have not heard from anyone with reference to the Prostitution problem in Magalluf/Palma Nova and I can tell you as a Destination Expert for Trip Advisor, that if you want the resorts to both recover from the recession etc..you MUST get rid of the problem!!” he stresses in his latest email sent on Tuesday. “The reviews on the holidays from the two resorts are all saying the same thing that the Prostitutes are even more of a problem than last year, as already muggings etc,,have happened through the Prostitutes and pimps (attacking holiday makers) that oversee them and the tourists have vowed NOT to go back until the problem has been sorted.......... “Just how many people does it take for the authorities to respond to this?” he continues. “Why do I care? “Because Magalluf is like a second home to me, and I am passionate about it, and thus promote it all over the World via Trip Advisor and many, many 1'000's book holidays on the back of the reviews and advice given..............BUT all this is going to crumble around the resorts when the hotels can no longer FILL their rooms, even more bars, cafes, restaurants, etc. close down through lack of tourists and I know since last year having been to Magalluf already this year that many, many places are boarded up and for sale so this does not bode well for the future...” he warns. “The bottom line is that we need actions rather than words, as some colleagues live out there in Palma Nova and Magalluf and are witnessing this problem every night, and of course the talk from the tourists is not on how nice the holiday was but the fact that the Prostitutes are approaching, men and women with children(families), etc....Is THIS what the authorities WANT people to hear when they return from their holidays out there? “WHAT'S THE POINT?” “I have a drive to see this through to the end, but sometimes feel “what's the point? “Because if you don't care, then why should we try and promote the resorts, when there is a BIG PROBLEM on YOUR streets,” he ends his latest email with.

However, as the Bulletin reported last week, Calvia's British-born Councillor, Kate Mentink, who was in charge of both tourism and foreign affairs, has been removed from her post at tourism.

The Mayor, Carlos Delgado, is now in charge and Trip Advisor's Dean Butler is unlikely to receive a reply from him.
Calvia Council sources revealed to the Bulletin yesterday that, as the emails seen by this newspaper confirm, receipt of Butler's emails has been acknowledged and that they have been forwarded to the Director General of Tourism and Communications.

However, the first email was sent to Calvia Council on February 23 and Butler has still yet to receive any sensible response which he can use to help improve the resorts' image which, it appears, were significantly damaged last year by the prostitutes.

Even local residents and the business community in Magalluf made their opinions clear LAST SUMMER following an incident involving a prostitute which led to the death of a British holidaymaker. Calvia Council sources said yesterday that, unless the mayor takes a tough stance this season and does everything possible to help the resorts and local businesses, “he may find himself with some serious problems with the local population”.