When Antonio Ferrer Munar opened his first hotel business in 1956, little could he have imagined that his company would become one of biggest in the sector in Mallorca. An exceptional visionary, he foresaw the establishment of the modern tourism model and quickly adapted to it. By the end of the 1990s, the group had eighteen restaurants and a workforce that easily exceeded three hundred employees.
Today, the second generation of the Ferrer family, his four children, have been passed the baton and are facing a revolution in the sector, just like their father did in the ’60s. Because, as Juanmi Ferrer explains: “the tourism model has changed and businesses have to adapt.”
And it’s true that in Mallorca, like other coastal tourism centres in Spain, the sun, beach and beer model has become obsolete. “In which university do they teach you that in tourism zones you have to eat badly? Nowhere, right?” rues Juanmi Ferrer. “What’s more, precisely because you’re on holiday and have time to spend with your partner, friends or children, you should work hardest for the experience to be perfect,” he declares.
Necessary and pressing changes to the model
A few years ago, the Ferrer siblings realised that they urgently needed to radically change the concept and look of the family group’s businesses. “The product had expired,” explains Juanmi who, having travelled the world, couldn’t understand how virtually all tourism focused on clients seeking sun and beer in their slice of paradise.
Without thinking twice, he spoke to his siblings and they began the process of change in one restaurant. They completely refurbished it, giving it a contemporary, up-to-date look. They eliminated merchandising, retrained the staff, invested in uniforms, bought new tableware and committed to offering a modern menu with high quality produce and fresh, healthy recipes. The siblings took the utmost care but worked with a certain trepidation because it was a family business and if the experiment went wrong...
At the end of the year, they were delighted to discover that the changes they had made had received the unconditional support of their customers. The rest is history. Year after year, the Ferrer siblings reinvested profit and gradually updated their businesses. Today, Enjoy Restaurants Group has seven restaurants in some of the most emblematic locations in Playa de Palma (Bikkini Beach, Bonito, El Chiringuito Beach House, Chalet Siena and Ginger) and a further two, Born8 and Ginger, on legendary Passeig del Born in the heart of the city.
Each one has its own identity and serves a different type of food based on Mediterranean, Italian, Asian and Spanish cuisine, or a fusion of these types of cooking. Despite their differences, all the group’s restaurants have one thing in common: a commitment to using the highest quality produce and carefully designed menus where zero-mile produce is an essential feature. Enjoy Group is also working towards a business model that blends restaurants and leisure, such as Chalet Siena and El Chiringuito Beach House, which both have a resident DJ and offer lots of fun as well as great food and fantastic cocktails.
Palma Beach: when the aim is excellence
Juanmi Ferrer describes how, when they had just opened their second oasis in Playa de Palma, they realised that they couldn’t make this change alone – they needed the involvement of other businesspeople in the hospitality, catering and hotel sectors. And that was how Palma Beach was born: the umbrella brand that underscores quality and excellence and includes companies such as Riu and Iberostar.
Their work has been a catalyst for the area and, in a few short years, the classic “sun and beer tourism” model has been replaced by more sophisticated customers who want better services, products and facilities. Juanmi Ferrer believes that Mallorca is at a crossroads and needs to adopt a new tourism model, distancing itself from mass tourism that heavily relies on “all inclusive” hotels and “alcohol tourism”, replacing it with a comprehensive experience that offers leisure, beach, music and first-class food. “You have to sell a lifestyle,” he adds. So far, Enjoy is taking the first steps.