Palma.While the Balearic government and the Ministry for Tourism were extolling their promotional plans for next week, the Majorcan Hotel Federation has stepped up the pressure on the local administration to give them more possibilities to increase their level of competitiveness and start by reducing taxes on the hotel sector.
Over the past few months, the Balearic hotel sector and the tourism industry as a whole, has learnt that it is to be hit by a series of new green taxes which have not been w ell received by the sectors considering they come in the wake of the September hike in VAT.
The Vice-president of the federation, Jose Antonio Fernandez Alarcon, has strongly criticised the Balearic government for its continual increases in stealth taxes and accused the government of hampering the hoteliers' capability of being able to compete with emerging destinations.
For the time being, the federation would like to see taxes frozen at their current level, if the government is not prepared to reduce them, while also making airport taxes more flexible.
He expressed his serious concern about the lack of capability Majorca's tourist industry has to operate during the winter and placed the blame at the local government for failing to tackle AENA over airport operating costs which is the main reason for the sharp drop off in flights over the winter.
This winter, there may be more frequent flights to UK destinations, but from Germany, for example, the number of flights has been significantly reduced.
And, Alarcon, said that without winter flights, winter tourism is not going to work.
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