What I am hearing from hotel, bar and restaurant owners is that it’s been a good season, but not a great one and it certainly has not lived up to the billing the summer was given by the politicians and powers that be back in the spring.
Yes, the French, Dutch and Italian markets have performed better than expected but however much one wishes to tinker with the statistics, the UK and German markets have, in general, failed to have performed as well as expected.
Furthermore, I think that the main hoteliers got wind of a complicated season rather early on.
I began to be bombarded with special offers for hotels in Mallorca and elsewhere in the Balearics back at the end of July and in early August I bagged an absolute bargain deal for this month.
I managed to book two garden suites at one of Mallorca's most sought after hotels in Cala Mesquida for half price. The basic deal was 40 percent off, then I got another five percent off for being a club member of the hotel chain and a final five for being a resident - and that was in the middle of peak season. And over the past ten days I have been receiving daily offers from all of the major hotel chains.
Looking at the UK market, the combination of the heat wave, recent scenes of total chaos at airports, rail strikes, children having gone back to school and the cost of living squeeze may make many Britons think again about trying to grab a last minute deal in Mallorca.
It’s too much hassle and cost and with Germany in recession, those with time on their hands may just stay at home.