The Acotur tourist businesses association wants the Balearic government to not only introduce new regulation of all-inclusive hotels but to also enforce regulations which already exist.
Acotur welcomes the government's commitment to regulate but draws attention to previous articles of legislation that are not being complied with. One of these is the necessity for hotels to register their all-inclusive offer with the tourism ministry. Acotur maintains that there are "numerous hotels" which don't do this, while it highlights the fact that certain hotels offer the possibility for guests to pay a supplement when they arrive in order to get all-inclusive. Moreover, there are hotels which allow non-guests to pay this supplement.
A further aspect of what Acotur insists is the "unfair competition" represented by all-inclusive is the flouting of the regulation barring guests from leaving hotel grounds with food and drink. Year after year, says the association, businesses are seeing their losses grow and "are forced to close because of serious problems like this".
Acotur draws a distinction between types of all-inclusive hotel. There are hotels where the quality of the AI offer is high and which don't create problems in tourist resorts. Then there are the other hotels which engage in unfair competition and cause trouble.
The association therefore wants "greater zeal" to be shown in controlling AI hotels where "anything goes". The lack of control at these hotels leads to anti-social and excessive behaviour, vandalism and hooliganism.
New government regulation of all-inclusive is expected some time later this spring or in early summer. As yet, the only indication of what this might entail is limiting the availability of alcohol to mealtimes.