Tag: ushuaia

The BOSSA FACTOR

  When I first arrived in Ibiza in 1991 (as a clueless holiday rep) the island dynamic was very straight forward. Youngsters went to San Antonio, families went to Playa d’en Bossa/Es Cana, and couples/seniors went to Santa Eulalia. I’m generalizing but you get the idea.

Playa d’en Bossa (or just plain Bossa) was predominantly a family resort but did have THE club in Space which opened at 6am and went straight through until the evening. Space opened its doors in 1989 and quickly gained an ‘anything goes’ reputation with the open air terrace being the place to be on a Sunday for sun, drinks, drugs and the best music in the world.

The families directly across the road in the hotels Bahamas and Don Toni were all a bit bewildered but Ibiza is nothing if not tolerant. Bossa continued developing at a rapid rate until 2011 when the Fiesta group got into bed with the Ushuaia beach bar and turned one of their family friendly ‘Fiesta-land’ hotels into the Ushuaia Beach Hotel, something that is commonly known as a GAME-CHANGER. Ushuaia Tower quickly followed and then with the 2014 addition of the Hard Rock Hotel (the only HR hotel outside of North America) the transformation was complete: quiet family resort to full on party paradise in less than a generation. 

For me it’s been hard watching the rise and rise of Bossa whilst San Antonio has remained more or less the same but now with the added influx of seasonal ‘workers’ (but that’s another story which I will blog about later this week). 

To compare the 2 places is difficult: San Antonio is an urban nucleus with it’s magnificent bay and natural harbour but has fallen down the party pecking order through lack of investment and 2 ‘super’ clubs that appear to care about everything apart from client enjoyment. Bossa is a purpose made tourist resort that now has top notch bars and restaurants along its mile long beach and the world class venues previously mentioned.

Although it’s billed as a mini Las Vegas any night in Bossa will also confirm your worst fears. A claustrophobic environment with hawkers and pushy PRs on every street corner. Of course we have some of the same issues on the west coast yet Bossa NEVER gets the bad publicity that San Antonio does, it would appear that memories are short as long as you have a few world class venues on your doorstep. 

So as Ibiza enters a new political era with elected socialist leaders in San Jose (Bossa’s municipality), San Antonio and also the island government it will be interesting to see if there are any major plans for Ibiza’s two biggest party resorts especially as San Antonio’s new Mayor Pep Tur ‘Cires’ has ‘promised’ a change of direction for San An tourism, this will be very interesting to watch.

Also it’s worth mentioning that Vicent Torres the probable next Island President was a former tourist minister for the Balearics and was the man who signed the Ryanair winter flights agreement back in 2007. 

Fiesta group led by billionaire Abel Matutes continues to push for more changes in Bossa and has also unveiled plans to invest €40M in the hotel Tanit at Cala Gracio making it a ‘mini Ushuaia’ which will include a beach club, will this be the touch paper that San Antonio needs to reclaim its historical place as the entry level Ibiza resort for all 18-25 year olds? Like most tourist destinations Ibiza needs needs to continually evolve especially with regards to quality so we can compete with the emerging gateways and for this to happen we require our tourism leaders to be strong, innovative and creative not just stick their heads in the sand and expect Ibiza to continually ride on the crest of a wave. MM

Ibiza Business: The Challenge of June

 

We are now well into the summer season and the streets of Ibiza seem busy yet I’m hearing the same story from a lot of local businesses: takings down, profit down. 

Here at Ibiza Property Shop we had a great start to the year with villa holiday rentals performing well however since April it’s been a struggle with heavy discounts in May & June. I spoke to traders in Ibiza Town and San Antonio this week who tell me the same story: Lots of people around but takings down is the recurring theme. 

Of course the super clubs and beach clubs are doing very well but that’s like saying Old Trafford is busy on a Saturday afternoon when Man U are at home. The world class venues will always perform well but it is the smaller local traders and family businesses that are concerned that the same few get the lions share of the pie. We all know that from mid July to mid September the island is going to be madness, it always is, but how can local business survive on 60 days per year? it’s the shoulder periods that we need to maximize for us all to have a truly good year.

Why?

I can only put it down to the shifting patterns of tourism with long weekend breaks now becoming more prevalent and tourists spending all their money on 2 or 3 major events then cutting back during the rest of their stay. Many now want to stay close to the big venues such as Ocean Beach, Ushuaia and Hard Rock and there is definitely over capacity in the villa rental market, where there used to be a few hundred villas for rent any search will now give you over 3000 options. It also appears that the mid market is deserting the island so as a business you’ve got to be either bargain basement or top end. 

Aviation continues to be a problem with Ibiza flight prices being higher than our competitors who also enjoy better flight times. This is a historic problems but the simple fact is that Ibiza people will put up with flights at ungodly hours whereas Mallorca and Marbella people won’t. 

The changing dynamic to weekend breaks has taken the traditional businesses a little by surprise so we are playing catch up but Ibiza doesn’t stay behind for long. The White Isle is constantly evolving but the increase in competition on the island and by emerging destinations means that we need to consistently up our game and be more flexible especially during the lower and mid seasons months. 

Ibiza continues to enjoy incredible growth but as with in any competition there are always winners and losers and June has proved that so far.