AT the start of this year the President of the Balearic government, Jose Ramon Bauza, promised a record year for tourism. It would a be a year in which the islands would finally bounce back from recession thanks to the influx of cash from tourism. Bauza´s statement is now looking to be rather ambitious. Some were even forecasting cases of overbooking in May. There has been no overcoming, the amount of money being spent by tourists has fallen in the Balearics but risen in the rest of the country and there is already some concern within the industry about the so-called record season. Now, the World Cup has not helped with some tourists electing to stay at home but still business owners in some resorts are complaining about a lack of tourists and a lack of spending power. Now, the islands have always been a safe haven resort. If there was trouble elsewhere in competing destinations then the Balearics would always come to the rescue. So far there has been no trouble and competing resorts in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa are doing well. Now, tour firms have said that Majorca is not as popular this year as it once was. Price is key and as we all know Majorca is not cheap. I sincerely hope that the local government will react and quickly. The issues that tourists have been compiling need to be resolved and perhaps it might be better if Bauza made victory speeches at the end of the season rather than at the start.