Foreign investors have arrived on Majorca in force snapping up hotel chains and opening new businesses. A quick glance at the island´s top hotels and you will discover that the majority are foreign owned. This week the Hyatt Group bought 16 local hotels, the Four Seasons Group has recently purchased the Hotel Formentor, Sir Richard Branson is building a new hotel in Banyalbufar and InterContinental Hotels Group is constructing their first hotel on the island in Santa Ponsa.
The list goes on. I am told that foreign investment companies have an appetite for investing in the local tourist industry and already a number of local hotels are owned by U.S. and British investment funds. This is good news for Mallorca because it clearly shows that despite the difficult times the island is still considered a good investment. I must say that most of the new hotels are in the luxury four and five star bracket. Yes, the industry does appear to be moving more up-market and the standard “bucket and spade” hotels which the tourist industry was built on appear to be in decline.
Mallorca is more expensive than competing resorts on the mainland and some tourists quite rightly complain that it is no longer a cheap holiday destination. Perhaps the winds of change are blowing through the industry; more expensive hotels will mean fewer but bigger spending tourists. Mallorca will always have a place for everyone but at the moment it appears to be heading up-market.