Dear Editor, SO 25 per cent of all hotels in the region will be open this off season. I would love to see the list of 250-plus hotels that the Majorcan Hotel Federation say are staying open. I have carried out an internet survey of my own.
Now, we all agree that the majority of holiday makers to our islands either book via tour operator or DIY via the internet. OK, the tour operators first. The four biggest in the UK are Thomson, Thomas Cook, MyTravel and First Choice and, according to their website, they have only five Balearic establishments available for their period 7-14 December.
DIY travellers use a variety of different online companies but one of the biggest is AlphaRooms. They have nearly 1'000 Balearic hotels and apartments on their books and for the same period (7-14 December) have 69 establishments in Majorca, 10 in Menorca, 8 in Ibiza and 1 in Formentera. The main summer resorts of Magalluf, Palma Nova, Santa Ponsa and Alcudia have just 12 establishments open between 7-14 December.
I must admit math was my favourite subject at school, and the figures I have provided fall very short of the 250-plus establishments that are claimed to be open this winter.
So, will all these people who try to keep kidding us with the statistics, come off it and start doing something positive about making these islands a winter destination just like they used to be.
Figures are one thing, will somebody please take a walk around the likes of Santa Ponsa, Cala d'Or and Cala Millor to realise how dire things are again this winter. Ian Morrison, Calas de Majorca