A quiet Christmas in PP.
 

It has been very quiet in the Port over Christmas with much fewer people about.
In the end La Piazza did not open and i am told Casinet also closed because they did not have the bookings. We called into La Roca for pre-lunch drinks on Christmas Day and there was only one other guy there, they had no bookings but opened anyway :(.

On Christmas Eve we had lunchtime drinks in Hardleys, which was quite busy, in the evening we went to Nostalgia, had a lovely evening with free nibbles, a Xmas quiz and great music but it was quieter than last year as was O'Haras and they usually have a lot of locals in.

On Christmas Day we had lunch in Hell's Kitchen, they were full, the atmosphere, food and service was absolutely superb. Ian and his staff surpassed themselves. There were very few places open in the evening, we went into O'Haras for an hour or so, a nice mix of ex-pats and locals.

On Boxing Day we lunched in Hardleys, lovely cold meats and pickles with mash or bubble n squeek. Went to Nostalgia in the evening for a nice chill-out drink.

So all in all we had a fab Christmas :D but the Port really was much quieter than last year and i have read in the local press that even Palma restaurants have seen bookings fall significantly :(.

This is bad news. Just hope and prey that from Spring onwards people start to flock to PP.

This recession appears to be getting worse........surely 2012 will be better? If not, shops and restaurants will surely start to close and PP will get that "ghost town" look.

One bit of good news is that the pound buys you more euro's. Let's hope that this has some effect and that the greedy banks don't give you less of an exchange rate.

Yes Nick, i am afraid the lack of flights has impacted on PP this Xmas but also the locals are not spending like they usually do.
Unfortunately some airlines are not going to start flights until May, so San Antoni and Easter could also be very quiet :(.

I thought that might be the case Sparky. We usually travel from Stansted, which is our closest airport, but we've got to use Gatwick and paid an extortionate amount as well.

Only good thing is that the car hire is cheap.

Please organise some good weather right away!

Reading the local press this morning in Palma some establishments have only got bookings for 10% of their capacity, some businesses are recording a 50% drop in takings. This article in the Diario De Mallorca makes grim reading i am afraid :- La comercialización de cenas y fiestas navideñas registra una caída del 30% - Diario de Mallorca :eek::(

I'm sure that there was an article in the DB (on this site) just before Xmas saying that 2011 had been the 3rd busiest season on record and that flights into Palma airport had also been near record levels, especially with people from a.) the UK and b.) Germany.
Though I do realise there seems to be a great dearth of flights from the UK during the current winter period.
From those 'on the ground' (Sparky & Co.) - did the local businesses seem to have a decent season this year (2011) and was it better than 2010?

Ohh, Ohh, Ohh..... Hope all PP fans had a good Xmas and all the best for the New Year.

It seems to have been a mixed bag from the business people i talked to with some saying that although there were more people about, the actual spend was less. I think the early part of the season was quieter but the peak was very busy and then the end of season it just died.
Of course some of them are never happy :rolleyes: but i really believe that the landlords could do an awful lot more to help them, they just will not reduce the rents which are extortionate.

Its not about exchange rates or a rescission. Its about Flights its almost impossible to get out to PP if you live outside London or the surrounding area and if you are north of Yorkshire you have even less chance. As much as many people would love to be out in the winter and over the Christmas holidays and attend the festivals following that. The Airlines have effectively but an end to that. As I have said before here its time the Airport Authorities and Government and the Airlines sat down and thrashed out a deal for the winter , for the grater good of all. The season is getting shorter and shorter caused by the Airlines stopping flights earlier and starting again later. Businesses cannot survive having to pay huge rents all year and fewer weeks to try and make enough money to survive all year. Sadly we will loose more and more unless something is done to get people onto the Island over a longer period of time, and give these businesses a fighting chance.

Bristol is 'outside of London' and Easyjet have done flights to Palma for years, admitted the number are reduced this winter but we paid under £60 return for our Feb flights. (not counting the speedy boarding, suitcases and golf clubs which made it nearer £200!)

If there is a huge demand for flights at that time of year then why do the airlines continue to cut the number down?. Simple, there is not. The few people that post on here re lack of flights does not constitute a huge demand. I have been going to pp in the winter for years from gatwick. when i started there were around 4 flights a day. Now it's down to 2. When i contacted the airline as to why, they said. " We do not have enough bookings to sustain the number of flights" and thats gatwick so what chance is there in the smaller airports.

The lack of flights from local airports has become a big problem for us in South Wales as our only no frills company, BMI, has pulled out. The only choice is Thomson from Cardiff who are asking ridiculous amounts or easy jet from Bristol, whose fare next year in August is nearly £300 per person plus I would have to pay £70-£80 per week parking or its £170 return for transfers.

As there is normally 4 of us thats £1400 before we look at apartments.
This is not going to help getting more people onto flights to holiday destinations.

No Jet2 flights from Leeds-Bradford - a fast growing regional airport with a very large catchment area - to Palma until 25th March. Thats five months or so without a flight; nearest Jet2 flights are from Manchester.
We have to realise that these so called cheap flight airline operators are not a charity and will only run regular flights if they can a.) cover their costs and b.) make a profit. No point whatsoever running a regular loss making airline. Only the same as a loss making 'corner shop' but on a much grander scale. Unfortunately in times of austerity you cannot employ staff to 'hang around', planes to run half-full, etc., etc., whilst still paying out for expensive wages, fuel and airport landing charges, etc. Its a great pity but a fact of life at the moment.
Even when they are running during 'the season' it is great to see on here that some people manage to get wonderful flight deals, but many others are tied to school, college, works holidays, etc., that means they have to pay 'over the odds' for goodly timed flights and they seem to be getting more expensive by the year.
It gets to a point of do you want your holiday abroad or don't you, take it or leave it. It's worse in winter, take it or leave it may also mean a long drive or train journey to even get a flight, especially from Scotland! Times they are a changing.
Well on that note Happy New Year to all PP fans and hope you manage to get out to PP once again in 2012. Also to all the ex-pats in PP and our much liked hotel, restaurant and bar owners and their staff.

Pescador 2009, Thats my earlier point in a nutshell:)