Hosted by the President of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, accompanied by the councillor for Tourism, José Marcial Rodríguez, and the island’s director of Tourism for Demand and Hospitality, Susanna Sciacovelli, guests included Lord and Dame Mary Archer, who have owned a property on the island for many years - Lord Archer has written some of his best-selling books in Mallorca - Professor Hilary Meredith-Beckham CEO and husband Ted Beckham, father of England Manchester United and Real Madrid legend David, who also love visiting their home on the island as much as possible.
A Place in the Sun presenter Laura Hamilton who has been coming to Mallorca for years and recently bought a property in Pollensa which she is renovating, said a few words about her love for the island, and actress Elen Rhys, star of The Mallorca Files, which has enjoyed global success over its past three series, the latest of which is showing on Amazon Prime at the moment, while providing great publicity for Mallorca.
The president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, stressed in his welcoming remarks that “this is precisely what we want to replicate on our island. Just as today we invite you to enjoy a purely British cultural experience, we hope that travellers from the UK who visit us will also enjoy the wide and varied cultural offer that Mallorca has to offer”.
Music was the main protagonist. The performances were given by the Mallorcan composer Joan Valent, accompanied by the quintet made up of the musicians Joan Martorell, Zsofia Hanga, Spaina Smerald, Jaume Rosal and Carlota Coll. The aperitif, during which DO Binissalem wine was served, featured a musical performance offered by the Teatre Principal.
A total of 80 guests attended, all of them representatives of the tourism sector, the media and leading tourism-related organisations. Among others, Natalia Bayona, executive director of UN Tourism; Tom Jenkins, CEO of ETOA; Manuel Butler, director of OTS London and representatives of leading international organisations such as ABTA, DRV, PREDIF, WTTC, ENTI, Island Innovation Sustainability. As well as local entities, FEHM and Essentially.
There were also representatives from international tourism companies such as British Airways, TUI, Lastminute or Edreams; from hotel chains such as Riu, Blau Hotels or Grupo Mac Hoteles. There was also a large representation of journalists working in different UK media such as the Times, Telegraph, Huffpost, Monocle, The Sun and Metro, among others.
Earlier this year, Lord Jeffrey Archer signed copies of his books at the Hotel Zel in Palmanova as part of the celebrations to mark Saint George's week in Calvia which are going to be repeated next year. And Beckham senior is equally as passionate about Mallorca. “I love the island. I know people like the States or Asia and all that, but for me it’s Europe and Mallorca. I guess it’s horses for courses, but this is the island for me."
Laura Hamilton said: " I’ve visited a lot of places but I’ve always loved Mallorca. I know it’s a large island in the Balearics, but when you compare it to the mainland, for example, for an island it offers so much. I love the city of Palma, the architecture, the food, the people and there are amazing vineyards on the island. It’s mountainous; look we’re sat here on the beach looking out to sea but we’re surrounded by mountains. It’s lush, it’s green, the beaches are amazing, it’s family friendly."
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The usual brown nosing for D list 'celebrities'
Bloody hell, this is a trade fair. With the amount of coverage it's received in the MDB this week, you'd imagine man had just walked on the moon for the first time. Can we have some other news please?
The optics of hosting a lavish dinner in London for celebrities to encourage more tourism seems somewhat inappropriate right now after all the grievances of the local resident population have been aired in the past months.
Well the optics of spending tax payers money on a lavish dinner in London will likely go down really well right now with the voters on the island struggling to pay their mortgages and campaigning for a major rebalancing of the tourism model.