During the fair, the minister, Jaume Bauzà, stressed the importance of explaining to visitors in a “transparent” way what the proceeds of the Sustainable Tourism Tax they pay when they stay in the Balearics are used for. He pointed out that the money is destined to the protection of the natural environment, the management of the water cycle, the recovery of historical and cultural heritage, training, research and innovation, improvements in tourism infrastructure, the promotion of responsible tourism and security, or the deseasonalisation through culture and sport.
Bauzà announced that the government is working on a system to be able to offer in a “simple and accessible” way to visitors in tourist establishments the “detailed, updated and transparent” information about the projects in which the ITS collection is invested.
At the World Travel Market, the minister referred to the social and political pact for sustainability promoted by the government, explaining that it is a participatory process to transform the current model and that it has the participation of a hundred institutions and entities that, he stressed, “row in the same direction to be an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable destination”.
He also spoke about seasonal adjustment, assuring that it is being consolidated thanks to the strategy of the government of associating culture and sport to tourism. According to Bauzà, tourism has grown by five percent over the last year and much of this increase has been concentrated in the low season months. He also drew attention to the fact that the British market during the first four months of the year was up by over five percent which helps to lengthen the season.
“It should be noted that this strategy also means that we are growing more in value than in volume: today the increase in tourist spending in our islands is double the increase in visitors,” he stressed.
Finally, the minister thanked the collaboration of the Embassy and the British Consulate in the implementation of the decree of responsible tourism.
“The British who visit our islands are always and will always be welcome,” he stressed, while requesting the complicity of the UK tourism agents so that ‘they are participants in the changes’ facing the Balearics and the ‘courageous measures’ to be taken. “The tourist tax is going to be used to make the Balearics a better place for holiday makers which greater transparency about how the tourist tax they pay is used,” he added.
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