The London agenda

Humphrey Carter17/10/2017 00:00

The Balearic minister for tourism and vice-president, Biel Barceló, told the Bulletin a couple weeks ago that the relationship between the Balearic and British tourist sectors has never been better. This will be put to the test at the World Travel Market in London next month.

Both sides have pressing questions. The UK industry will want to hear more about the doubling of the tourist tax, a double-digit increase in hotel rates and the chaos experienced by tens of thousands of Britons when they landed at Palma airport and had to spend hours waiting to pass through passport control. Winter flights, or rather the lack of incentives to operate off-season services will also be analysed, along with holiday rentals. The British market will also be seeking assurances about the tourismphobia movement and that it is a case of a minority.

As for the Balearic delegation, it will like to know what exactly happened to Monarch, which has left hoteliers out of pocket with some 40,000 seats grounded. There is also going to be interest in how much British tour operators are pushing competing destinations like Greece, Turkey, Croatia and even Egypt and Tunisia now that relative calm has returned to most of the destinations which are cheaper and doing everything they can to revive their tourist industries. Greece, for example, was the most sought-after online destination this year.