ABSTRACT
“Mr. Müller, where are your overbooked guests going to sleep tonight?” That was the question the editor of a major German tabloid abruptly asked me when he called me on a Saturday morning at the NUR TOURISTIC SERVICE office in Palma. It was high season, and the year was 1994. Mallorca was completely overcrowded. All tour operators were struggling with overbookings because hoteliers were overwhelmed by reservations and couldn’t handle the situation anymore. Another major tour operator had even docked a cruise ship in the Bay of Palma de Mallorca to accommodate at least some of the guests rejected by hotels. Antalya was not an option as a holiday destination that year due to sporadic terrorist attacks, so everyone flocked to Spain, especially Mallorca.
