The Baleric Islands stand at the London travel fair.

The Baleric Islands stand at the London travel fair. | R.L.

Andrew EdePalma23/08/2024 10:24
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Just over two months of the season left, and at its very end the witches will be casting their spells as Mallorcan and Balearic tourism authorities prepare for a Bonfire Night appointment in London.

Promotion at fairs is being cut back, but they couldn’t miss the World Travel Market for all the world.
Witches there will be aplenty. Who or what will be the Guy? Promotion will be irrelevant. The protests will be all that matter; the protest and the response to the protests. But on November 5, when Prohens, Bauzá, Galmés, Rodríguez, Martínez et al gather for the happy family photos by the fully sustainable Balearic stand at the ExCel, the difficult question will be asked. What response?

We can guess. There is a pact for sustainability, a pioneering consultative initiative to provide a roadmap for a touristic future. We know this. But what else? Will any of the various working parties have come up with anything? That’s very doubtful. Nevertheless, as media witches sharpen their broomsticks and wait to light the fire, Team Prohens will need to offer something, and more than an objective-data sparkler. They can’t just pitch up in London and say they’re working on it. They need a multicoloured rocket of an announcement.

Among critics of the current tourism model, there’s little confidence in this pact. An absence of transparency means that they don’t even know who the ‘experts’ are on these working parties; they’re not the only ones who don’t know. And why not for Heaven’s sake?

Two months or so, and there’s zero suggestion of anything of consequence to present. At the very earliest, there will be something next year, whatever this will be.