Jason MoorePalma04/10/2018 17:54
TW

The Balearic tourism industry will soon be heading for the London World Travel Market, one of the biggest tourist fairs in the world which takes place in Docklands next month. There will be plenty to talk about from Brexit to the impact of cheaper holiday destinations in the eastern Mediterranean which have hit bookings to the island this year. It was last year that British tour firms warned about the effect of cheaper holiday destinations and this got the alarm bells ringing. This year there will be even more concern because British tourists may elect to stay away from European Union countries because of Brexit.

The Balearics will be well represented in London along with tourist boards from the rest of the country. For the islands this year it will be even more important because the British market is key for the Balearics especially places like Minorca. If all goes according to plan, Britain will have left the European Union by the time the summer season gets under way and this will certainly cause some headaches for both the British and Spanish tourism authorities. The local government will be seeking to bring back an upbeat message from London because not only is there Brexit, local elections are taking place next year and the state of the tourism industry will be a key issue. I suspect that the Balearic government will come under even greater presssure from hoteliers to scrap the tourist tax. These will be interesting times in London.