Jaume Font, the leader of El Pi, while not in favour of the tax, accepted that because of the under-funding of the Balearics by central government, the tax was “interesting.” He did, though, warn the regional government, as he has previously, to “not make a TIL of tourism.” By this, he means that it should not become an issue that is as explosively divisive as the PP’s TIL trilingual teaching policy was.
Further to business reactions that we reported yesterday, Inma de Benito, the president of the Majorca Hoteliers Federation, says that she doesn’t believe that the tax will have an immediate harmful effect because of the current “sweet spot” in which the tourism industry finds itself that will therefore not mean a sudden loss of tourists. However, she is of the view that in the medium term the tax will be harmful in curbing investment and reducing the competitiveness of the Balearic economy.
In Minorca, the hotelier reaction is one of wanting to fully study the draft that the government has come up with, but the president of the federation there, in addition to what he has already said about the unknown damage that the tax could cause, suggests that “it could sink us.” In Ibiza and Formentera, Manuel Sendino agrees with Benito that there may not be any immediate effect, but in the medium-term he believes there will be a reduction in the number of tourists, especially among those who are the most price-sensitive.
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Whilst everybody is up in arms about this tax and the coverage of all media is mostly pro and con I am at a loss to understand what this money will be used for! If it is put back into tourism, keeping the beaches clean, upgrading the road and public transport system, ensuring that the service standards on all island hospitality business are raised then I say YES. If it goes in the deep pockets of your greedy politicians and is used to cover up their deficits then you have a NO.
Dear MDB i can understand that some tourists are seen as a nuisance .Some of them have a lack of respect versus people working very hard in hotels, bars, restaurants and other mass tourism attractions in full season.and deliberately cause stress what does not motivate the working crowd Mallorca had a very good summer season with a important occupancy ratio in hotels/B&B"s, holiday homes etc, but beware. The contigent that overcrowded Mallorca is only due the issues in Eastern and or Northern African countries . Are they Mallorcan faithfulls ? I wonder if they still come once the everything is settles again there ? That's why I am conviences that even with the tourist tax, there will be no negative impact .upon the regulars.and support Inma de Benito