Today, from our blog at Tropicana Beach Club, we bring you an interview with a person who has been instrumental in the Tropicana story from the very beginning. Through his efforts, he has also helped make Cala Jondal what it is today, a high-quality leisure spot. We are speaking, of course, of Toni Mari, the native Ibicenco who has been the driving force of Tropicana since it opened in 1988.
To tell our story we must go back to the year 1987: Cala Jondal was an unspoiled enclave of virgin coastline with that wild, windswept look it still retains today. The only way to reach it was down an old cart track.
There was no doubt in Toni Mari’s mind that this was the perfect place to start up a beach club that would attract visitors from the high-end of the tourist market. He knew from experience that upscale tourists always seek out tranquil and unique places, “And that’s just what they’ll get when they come to this patch of paradise,” he thought.
After a year of intense work – the beach had to be somewhat tamed and several structures built in order to give shape to Toni’s vision – on 7th May, 1988, the Tropicana Beach Club opened its doors to the public. It was the first business to operate at what has today become the very “in” Cala Jondal. It was also the first beach club on Ibiza!
It was almost the same as today’s club, with its restaurant, its outdoor bar and its sunbeds. Toni Mari was not wrong. The club soon became a magnet for quality customers, a regular haunt for the beautiful people of Ibiza. Today, it continues to provide the best service and atmosphere for a select clientele.
It started off with a modest team of 15 workers. Today it has over 50. Its popularity has not diminished one iota over the years as Tropicana carries on in its same philosophy of customer service. In the words of Toni Mari, is “Our specialty is making sure that our customers come back because of how much we give them and how happy they are when they leave…”
To conclude, we asked Toni which Ibiza was better, that of the 80s or the current Ibiza. He answers cautiously that today there is more competition and that the summer season is shorter and more crowded. He adds that yesterday’s customers were more laid back and respectful of the island lifestyle and the Ibicenco way of doing things, but finally concedes that even so, Ibiza is better today and that life in general has improved.
Next week we’ll bring you more appealing suggestions for how to enjoy Ibiza to the max.
Regards from Cala Jondal and Tropicana