The collapse of Thomas Cook has hit the holiday industry hard on the island and clearly underlines the important role still played by tour firms despite the growth in online bookings.
The financial situation of some firms involved in tourism is said to be so severe that they will have difficulty in surviving. Thomas Cook allegedly owes local hoteliers many millions of euros. I am told that the travel giant settled their bills every three months so hoteliers have not been paid for the key summer months when the package holiday giant was bringing thousands of people on holiday to Majorca.
I suspect that hoteliers will now be looking to increase their online presence so that they can handle more bookings direct. Surely, this has to be the way forward, especially in these difficult times.
The Balearic tourist industry will be heading to London next month for the World Travel Market tourism fair and Brexit and the collapse of Thomas Cook will be key issues which are expected to rather cloud the second biggest tourism gathering in the world. For local hoteliers these are worrying times and they will be seeking reassurances from the British travel industry that all is well with the British travel market.
But of course Brexit is a major concern. The local tourist industry will be hoping that British tourists will stay loyal to the Balearics despite the collapse of Thomas Cook and Brexit and I believe that this will be certainly be the case so watch this space.