Editorial: The missing tourists

The moaning season has started so it must be the middle of June! Every businessperson I meet in Palma is moaning about the lack of tourists. Now, this usually happens every year in June but this holiday season it appears to be more pronounced. The outgoing Balearic government promised us a record breaking season but there are no signs as yet that it will be an epic holiday period for the Balearics. What is clear is that the summer season gets shorter every year and there is no sign that things are going to change or even get better. Now, as we all know the British and Germans are travelling but it would be interesting to know where.  The alleged cruise ship boom is happening in the Puerto Palma but there are still important question marks over the spending power of these tourists. The list goes on. All this is happening and we have a new Balearic government which is talking about a tourist tax. Now, this new levy is very much in the planning stage and at the moment it is more talk than action. But sooner or later it will hit the pages of the German and British newspaper and unless the new Balearic government is very careful then we could be facing yet another tourism crisis. The tourist industry has plenty of problems, ranging from all inclusive hotels to the  on-going problems in Magalluf. The new Balearic minister for tourism is going to have a very heavy workload. I would like to wish he or she luck because they are going to need it!