well i have contacted loads of people i know.and they are still going this year.mine you a few did book lastyear in june/july.but like me others did not make there mines up untill feb of this year.but over the many years i have been going and bar owners ect i know.numbers are very low.from say back in the 90s even.more younger people are going for first time.but don;t drink or eat out so much.plus like said.a/i keeps them in.they do nip out the odd time.but back for last hour at hotel.

makes me laugh.how much can a man drink in one day.you dont do that at home.because its there and cheap they go for it.big time.most of the drinks are wasted anyway.making some hotels great for stag and hen partys.

when they get home.its a laugh to here them say.had a great time.got p...ed.saw nothing of ibiza?.

i'm not sure why you use the word dwindling?

Hi Spottydog. I must admit that those figures really surprise me, but I use the word dwindling for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I'm comparing resorts with how they were 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years ago, when you could hardly find two spare beach beds together if you arived at the beach after 10:00am. These days, just over half of the beds are taken most days.

Secondly, I'm comparing the numbers of people eating and drinking in restaurants at night. Over the years, and even more so recently, those numbers have definitely dwindled. If there were more poeple on the island in 2008 than any other year since 2001, the increase must all have gone to the All-inclusive hotels.

Like the beaches, the bars and restaurants were once crowded every night. Now some are so empty it cannot be worth their while opening up.

I have British friends with bars and restaurants, as well as Spanish friends in the same position. Not one of them was happy with takings when I was there last June. I know three British bars up for sale, one of which is a family business that has been running for 30 years.

Two separate Spanish friends have told me they will have to close their restaurants if 2009 is as bad as 2008.

Trust me, I don't want it to be doom and gloom - I love the place too much. I just believe the Spanish Government have to set a limit for what percentage of hotel rooms in any resort can be let as All-Inclusive. Otherwise the resorts and the local businesses will starve.

the island is a very different place today than 25 years ago. package tourism is no longer the dominant force in the holiday economy. internet bookings by independent travellers now are more than 50% of the market.

there were more people than ever who visited the island in the last couple of years and most of them don't want to go to british bars and spanish cafes. the high end hotel, retail, bar and restaurant sector is not suffering - lower numbers are only being experienced in low market shops and bars.

undoubtedly at this end of the market the affects of AI are being felt - the spanish call it sandwich tourism - but the proportion of AI hotels over all the island is still low (though in cheap resorts like portinatx where the family market loves them it's high)

i rent my villa and i was 60% booked for 2009 by last september. now i've just got one week left available after a cancellation. my clients won't be spending their time on arenal, es cana or cala llonga beaches and neither will they be going for a game of darts in the red lion. they'll be lounging by their own pool or lunching down at es codolar because people's expectations of what they get on a holiday are so much higher than 'manchester in the sun' holidays of 25 years ago.

sdII

I have gone back to a half-board package this year after two years of DIY holidays to apartments in Santa Eulalia. Last year we spent £600 more for 2 than half board in a hotel and that was only eating out in the evenings. With the exchange rate as it is this year it was a no-brainer!
When I was talking to a Thomson member of staff, he said that far more people are booking AI and half-board this year. With a saving like that, you can still eat out in the evenings if you want to although the food at the hotel to which I am going is fantastic! Much as I loved the apartments , there's something so nice about not having to lift a finger in a hotel. I can cope with that for two weeks!!

I'm not disputing spottydog 11's figures but in my experience of funpubs, funparks and places to eat the numbers are down over the last 5 or 6 years.

Our big worry for this july, is we have 2 kids, 11 and 4 who thrive on the funparks at night. Without that what does a family with 2 kids do at night.