If you don’t like it you can go elsewhere. This appears to be the message from certain elements of the Majorcan tourist industry. Whatever happened to the slogan "A Tourist, A Friend". Hoteliers have announced that they want to increase their prices by 15 per cent next year after what has been a record season for them. They are not taking into account that for British tourists, hit by the fall in the value of the pound, Majorca could just be too expensive.
But that doesn’t seem to concern certain sections of the industry; the German market is buoyant and this year the island has welcomed a record number of Scandinavians and also eastern Europeans. The British tourist market appears to be declining even in its top destinations such as Magalluf. The announcement this week that a new five-star hotel will be built in the so-called fun resort was a major step forward, but the industry was quick to point out that it would not only be centered on the British market, because the resort was changing and was welcoming different nationalities.
This has been the case for some time now with Russians, Italians and Scandinavians heading for the resort in force. The British market is obviously vital for Majorca, but I get the impression that it is not as important as it once was. The British market is still number one in the Balearics but only just and you must take into account that Minorca is hugely popular with British tourists.
Next season will be a key time for Majorca. The tourist tax will come as no surprise to tourists like it was this year and of course we have the threatened price rises. But it will also be interesting to see how many of the tourists who were diverted to Majorca because of the security concerns over resorts in north Africa and the eastern Mediterranean actually return. It could be a make-or-break season for the island.