By Jason Moore
THIS summer season could be a watershed for Majorca and see the end of an era for some resorts. British tour companies, reacting to the credit crunch and the fall in value of the pound, have been reducing the size of their summer programmes in traditional resorts such as Magalluf, Palmanova and Alcudia. Instead of taking 80 percent of the beds in the area, they make take 60 percent. This will leave at least 40 percent of hotel beds open to other nationalities such as the Italians, the Russians and the French. So what does this mean to the resorts? Well, I can´t see an Italian sitting down to a full English breakfast and then enjoying a pint of Carling while watching Only Fools and Horses in a British bar in a resort which was once almost 100 percent British. Therefore businesses in the resorts are going to have to change to cater for the new markets. In the future it could mean that resorts will become more cosmopolitan with businesses which are not just aimed at a single market. The coming years are certainly going to be interesting and it could very well change the shape of the industry. While bars and restaurants catering for British tastes are always going to be needed it will be interesting to see if they are wanted in the numbers which exist at the moment.
The changing face of tourism