Manx leader prepares for islands summit

PALMA
THE Chief Minister of the Isle of Man has spoken of the importance of the Islands Commission - which holds it 28th annual meeting in Palma on Thursday and Friday - as a forum for learning about the experiences of similar regions.

Tony Brown, who will be leading the Manx delegation to the Island, said the Isle of Man had always been “very supportive” of the commission and found it a “useful forum” to engage with other regions.

The Isle of Man was one of the original members of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, which brings together more than 150 regions throughout Europe.

The Islands Commission is one of six that discuss particular issues relating to these regions. Last year, the annual meeting was held in the Isle of Man.

One of the main issues to be discussed at this week's conference is the implications of the Lisbon Treaty.
The Isle of Man, being a self-governing dependency of the British Crown, is not a member. “The Lisbon Treaty has no direct effect on us,” says Brown (pictured top right). “But Protocol 3 might have a spin-off effect for us”. Protocol 3 of the UK's accession treaty provides for the free movement of goods to and from the Isle of Man, but not people and services.

Another major theme of this week's conference is sustainable tourism. Mass tourism used to be an important part of the Manx economy. In the early part of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands travelled to the island on their holidays, said Brown. But with the rise of the package holiday to the sun, the industry fell into decline. “We did go through difficult times in the late 1980s,” said Brown, but he pointed out that the island's economy was now much more diverse, based around finance, shipping and manufacturing. “Our economy isn't based on tourism as it was before,” said Brown.
However, the Manx Government has invested in promoting a different type of tourism centred around the island's history, customs and its rich fishing and bird watching. The Isle of Man TT attracts tens of thousands each year.

Also of possible interest to the Balearic authorities is the island's experience of business tourism. The island has a major hall called the Villa Marina that can seat 1'000 people and is well served by flights to the UK.