It was always going to happen, wasn’t it. You can’t get over confident in the travel business and you can’t talk of cost rises until you are convinced that the ball is firmly in your court. Unfortunately, certain sections of the Majorcan travel industry thought they were home and dry because of the security concerns about resorts in North Africa and the eastern Mediterranean. The terror fears have eased and holiday bookings have risen but holiday sales to Spain have levelled out. All of a sudden the confidence which was being expressed by certain sections of the local travel industry has evaporated.
Now, they had been warned. During the ITB travel fair in Berlin earlier this year travel firms did underline the fact that Turkey would enjoy a good season because it offered great value for money. These statements were slammed locally, but all of a sudden they appear to be correct. The Balearic government should forget about any rise in the tourist tax and perhaps the industry should forget about making threats over false compensation claims and concentrate on the day job. So far the record season, which had been forecast, has still not got off the ground. It is early days but there is some concern amongst the business community. Obviously the island will welcome a record number of tourists but it will be in the months of June, July August and September. A short season, still lucrative but beware, the island faces competition.