World Cup

Germany's exit from the World Cup may have been a blow for the World Champions but it was good news for Majorca. One of the reasons which has been blamed for the drop in tourism is the World Cup. Some believe that visitors numbers are down because many Germans have elected to stay at home and watch their national team. This all ended on Wednesday and now, if the experts are to be believed, there should be a surge in bookings to the island. I don´t really understand why football fans elect to stay at home to watch the World Cup when they could see it in the sun on Majorca in resorts which are crowded with their fellow countryman and women. But this is the case. Every four years at World Cup time there is a slowdown in bookings. The local police had mounted a special security operation when Germany played in World Cup matches on the island so at least the workload of the local police will have eased. A businessperson in Paguera was telling me that this year was far quieter than previous years and he blamed the World Cup. Quite a few local businesses are complaining about the lack of trade this summer and the island, apart from the roads, does appear to be unusually quiet. Whether it is the World Cup or the fact that the local authorities doubled the rate of the tourist tax, Majorca is not having the season that everyone was forecasting. Perhaps Majorca has scored an own goal this year. Time will tell.