The Problem Principal (sic)

So, the Balearic Government, business (for which you can read mainly the hoteliers) and the unions have reached an agreement to do something about illegal holiday lets and what is described as the "principal problem" with the island's tourism model, seasonality. Good for them. Shame that they are missing the point.

There is no denying that the moribund nature of the winter season is a big problem. However, what sustains not only the island's tourism model but also the island's whole economic model is summer tourism. If that's wrong, then you can forget the rest. And, if not completely wrong, that summer tourism is far from completely right. How can it be completely right when that summer tourism model is predicated to the extent that it is on the all-inclusive?

There have been reports that high season "numbers" are going to turn out to be better than thought. So long as the season turns out to have brought reasonably good numbers of tourists, then the various bodies will be able to sit back with relief and share a congratulatory cava, and feel that the summer season is in pretty good shape; therefore, not the principal problem, even if those numbers are made up with a whopping chunk of all-inclusive places. Ostrich time.

The government has made it quite clear that it sees Majorca's tourism as being based on quality hotel stock. Nothing wrong with that. But the size of the holiday let business is far from insignificant; in Pollensa, for instance, it comprises at least a half of tourist spaces. Not everyone wants to stay in a hotel, whatever the time of the year. A good tourism model offers a mix of accommodation to suit tastes. Which sector would most wish to see a reduction in the holiday let business? The hotel sector. It has a legitimate gripe when it points to the standards and regulations it has to adhere to and to the level of investment it makes; things not necessarily adhered to by the holiday lets. It is also legitimate to tackle undeclared rental income. However, it is the same hotel sector that is responsible, together with tour operators, for the growth of the all-inclusive and therefore the problems that face the summer tourism model and the island's economic model. The holiday lets are far from irrelevant; they should be encouraged and not discouraged. They should be embraced as a part of getting the bread and butter of summer tourism right. It is quite depressing that the worthy bodies can define a "principal problem" that serves only to disguise the true one.

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