Balearic nautical tourism launches quality drive to beat competition

PALMA
THE nautical tourism industry in the Balearics is planning a pioneering move to guarantee standards for customers.
The strategy has been devised with the realisation that on a price basis alone, the industry cannot compete with other holiday destinations in non-euro zones.

Fernando Fraile, director of the Institute for Tourism Quality in Spain (ICTE) said yesterday at the Club Náutico in Palma that a draft programme has been agreed on a voluntary basis by experts, ports authorities and leading nautical organisations in the region. The final manifesto for guaranteeing quality is scheduled to be up and running by the end of the year. Once the official “seal of quality” has been established, the same “Q” meaning “Tourism Quality” which is already awarded by ICTE to hotels, restaurants, countryside accommodation and ski lodges will then be assigned to marinas, nautical sports facilities, waterside accommodation linked to boat hire (pictured) and other marine industries. “We're not a cheap destination but we are a very good one,” said Fraile. It is anticipated that the “Q” policy will remove the image of a mooring away from one of “just a place to park a boat.”