Open letter to Joanna Maria Adrover, Palma Council for Tourism
Dear Joanna,
I read with great interest your article published in the Majorca Daily Bulletin where you stated that there was exceptional winter growth in Majorca city breaks. Unfortunately I must disagree with you.
I have been extensively involved with Jason Moore and Humphrey Carter of the Majorca Daily Bulletin to get winter flights from Scotland to Majorca. I met with the Scottish transport minister Keith Brown on numerous occasions and wrote regular letters to Mr Michael O’Leary the chief executive of Ryanair and last year Scotland enjoyed two flights per week from Edinburgh direct to Palma.
Unfortunately the crisis in Ryanair has come along and you can no longer fly from Scotland to Majorca and Ryanair appear to now only operate only a handful of flights from London and Manchester to Majorca compounded with the Monarch situation Majorca is one of the most difficult places to travel to in the winter from the UK.
I have attached an extract from a tour guide from the year 2000 at that stage Majorca was a vibrant winter destination along with Benidorm. I believe Benidorm is still a thriving winter destination and it is averaging a 90% occupation rate throughout the winter months and according to sky scanner you can fly to Benidorm for as little as £32.29. However if you wish to fly to Majorca it will cost £272 and take about 10 hours.
Majorca is faced with what I would call a chicken and egg situation. The airlines do not fly in the winter because the majority of resorts are closed and in turn the restaurant operators do not open because there are no tourists and I totally believe that we must promote Palma as a vibrant winter city.
I understand Calvia has 20,000 foreign residents with approximately 50% of these people coming from the UK. We now have the new conference centre open but it is virtually impossible to get there from the UK in the winter. I think it essential as a first step that landing fees in Majorca are set to the same level as Benidorm and that Palma is promoted for city breaks from Britain.
I look forward to receiving your comments.
Kind regards
Ian Rice
A long term Majorca property owner