Crisis has deepened this year, say Balearic businesses

NEARLY 74 percent of traders in the Balearic Islands say that the crisis has deepened this year, a report by small to medium-sized business association “Afedeco” said yesterday.

As part of the same research, Afedeco claimed that just over 13 percent of interviewees believed that the business situation was the same as last year and just 8 percent said that it had improved. Over 60 percent of those polled said that business from the tourist season had worsened in comparison with last year, just over 28 percent said that it was “the same,” and a litte more than 10 percent claimed it had improved.

Bartolomé Servera, Afedeco's President said that the first five months of the year had resulted in low booking numbers for the Balearics as a result of the Icelandic volcano ash cloud, but there had been an upturn in August of nearly 12 percent. Speaking generally of economic recovery, Servera said though that more than 73 percent of survey participants believed that there was no sign of it and just over 15 percent said “things were getting better.” Nearly 85 percent of interviewees said they thought that recovery would only come gradually.

Just under 66 percent of tourist businesses said they would keep up their staff levels, 34.21 percent said they would reduce them, but none said they would increase the number of employees, a highly significant finding for Afedeco.