All-inclusive controls are to be enforced

THE Balearic Minister for Tourism, Joan Flaquer, intends to push ahead with a package of specific measures to control all-inclusive hotel resorts despite being advised against regulating the sector by an independent commission on Thursday. Flaquer announced yesterday that he plans to unveil the set of measures next month and that his primary concern is protecting the interests of the tourism sub-sectors in the Balearics from negative effects of the all-inclusive boom. While the independent commission concluded that the all-inclusive boom is the result of market forces and must be respected, Flaquer said that he is looking for an alternative to regulating the sector in order to ensure it causes no further damage to the commercial interests of holiday resorts and the service sector. The opposition PSIB-PSOE socialist coalition is however, not convinced by Flaquer's approach to the issue of all-inclusive hotels and urged him to decide whether he is going to legislate or not. Former Balearic tourism minister Celestí Alomar has reminded Flaquer that president Jaume Matas has publicly spoken of introducing a law to regulate the controversial holiday sector.