All-inclusive holidays can by no means be banned, demand is just too high and the loss to the local economy would be significant at a time when the region is already seeing bookings from traditional markets slow as northern Europeans opt for competing and cheaper destinations.
However, there is a way hoteliers could control alcohol consumption in all-inclusive hotels and, in so doing, perhaps help the local economy and reduce anti-social behaviour in resorts. Some of the American cruise lines offer what is called a "drinks package". It is very similar to an all-inclusive holiday: all the drinks are prepaid so people can keep within a certain budget.
Many of the lines offering the packages have a cap on how many "free" drinks each passenger is permitted to consume per day. I know of a couple currently on a US-Caribbean cruise and their daily maximum each is 30 drinks, alcoholic or not. Surely that is more than enough? And a similar system could be introduced at airports to prevent passengers getting into the holiday spirit just a little too much before boarding their flights and attacking the in-flight bar, or each other.
So much time and money is wasted discussing how to tackle all-inclusives in the Balearics, why don’t those in power look to other sectors or other countries and learn. I know the Balearics likes to think so, but it doesn’t know it all when it comes to tourism.