Editorial: Historic year

The Balearic Ministry for tourism were busy congratulating themselves yesterday that they had managed to lengthen the holiday season from March to November. Many congratulations! If they read the letters on the next side of this page they would be able to lengthen the season from January to January! Jaime Martinez, Balearic minister for tourism, said that 2015 would be a historic year for tourism. Infact, according to the ministry for tourism, who obviously have a crystal ball, it will probably be one of the best tourist seasons on record. Now Martinez already said that 2014 was a historic year so 2015 must be a really historic and earth shattering season! I sincerely doubt that the majority of British tourists have actually booked their holidays yet and price is going to be key. While, we have been busy celebrating the rise of sterling on the island against the euro it also pays to remember that other competing resorts are also cheaper now. And in most cases they were cheaper than the Balearics in the first place. Now, judging by the Ministry for Tourism we have a very rosy year ahead and there appears to be little wrong with our principal industry. But there are big problems.  The biggest of all is the shortage of flights during the low season. If only the local ministry took the issue of winter tourism seriously we would probably have a buoyant tourist industry. But their historic season means that tourist resorts will be ghost towns for four months of the year.