Two months ago local hoteliers were warning that the islands could lose one million tourists next summer. They claimed that competition from other resorts and the increase in the rate of the tourist tax would cost the islands dearly. Fast forward 60 days and these same hoteliers are now forecasting a record year for tourism. So what has happened in the space of two months to radically change their minds? Well, not a lot.
We are in the midst of the main holiday booking time and the islands appear to be doing well. The "one million fewer tourists" claim led to banner headlines in the local media and caused concern in local political circles. The increase in the rate of the tourist tax by the coalition Balearic government was looking like a bad idea and there were calls for the controversial levy to be scrapped at once. But it now appears that the increase in the rate of the tourist tax is not a problem at all; in fact tourists are coming in record numbers even though they have to pay more tax. So what is going on?
The hoteliers are opposed to the tax because they say that it eats into their competitive edge, so perhaps it may have been a ploy to get the government to have a rethink or it was just a question of early predictions which didn't prove to be accurate. I would say that it is far too early to say whether the islands are going to have a record year or not. There are many hurdles still to be cleared and the tourist tax is one of them.