BALEARIC GOVERNMENT PLANNING MAJOR MARKETING CAMPAIGN IN THE UK AND GERMANY TO CUSHION BLOW OF CRISIS

PALMA
WHILE stranded passengers started being evacuated from the Balearics to the mainland to board coaches bound for the UK and Germany as pockets of air space in Northern and Western European opened and then closed yesterday, the Balearic Minister for Tourism, Joana Barcelo called a crisis meeting with local and international tourist and airline industry bosses.

Over the past week scores of holidays, weddings and business conventions have been cancelled in the Balearics and the Majorcan Chamber of Commerce said yesterday that while the losses are still too difficult to quantify but the loss of bookings has forced a number of hotels to postpone their opening dates even further.

Joana Barcelo said that a major public relations and marketing campaign is going to be launched in the UK and Germany to ease the affects of the crisis and stimulate demand as soon as the crisis is over and the travel industry returns to normal.

She admitted that the crisis has cost the Balearics a “significant” amount of money but she has urged tour operators, hoteliers and travel agents to try and continue working as usual so that they are well placed to respond once European airspace is eventually given the all clear.

REFUNDS
UK tour operator sources consulted by the Bulletin have explained that, in nearly all cases, customers who have lost their holiday, have been given the choice of a full refund or rebooking at no extra charge. “However, the latter is all very well providing families, in particular, can get away again,” one source said.
Barcelo said that her department is continuing to closely monitor the situation but admitted that this crisis has demonstrated just how vulnerable the Balearics is in the event of a transport crisis of this kind. “And for that reason, we are extremely concerned about the situation, especially if it prolongs,” she added.
Balearic captains of industry said that this crisis really could not have come at a worse time.
The President of the Confederation of Balearic Business Association, Josep Oliver, believes that it is going to be “very complicated and difficult” for the Balearics to recover from this lock down.

The hotel sector has repeated its calls on the government to postpone the increase in IVA (VAT) to help the travel sector recover from this crisis as quickly as possible.

This morning the Balearic Tourism Commission is going to meet to assess the situation. Barcelo explained that one of the objectives of the public relations campaign in the UK and Germany is to ascertain how this crisis has affected public opinion of the Balearics and if it will deter them from booking a holiday to the region.