Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma11/03/2016 00:00
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A delegation from the European Economic and Social Committee, a European Union consultative body, has been in Majorca to meet with the government and the Chamber of Commerce in hearing about projects to make the Balearics an "intelligent destination" island territory. This comes under the title of "Smart Islands", a project involving the ministry of employment, trade and industry and the programme "iCommerce, innovation and closeness" in which 24 Balearic municipalities are participants.

The minister, Iago Negueruela, said at the gathering that the government is committed to an improvement of the general economic model through actions designed to lengthen the tourism season and therefore the number of tourists. This will be achieved through a diversification of the tourism product and improved transport connectivity, though the government is also looking at wider economic diversification in order to lessen the dependence on tourism.

The delegation of four has spent two days in Majorca getting to know about specific projects, and the trip was organised by the Chamber of Commerce. The ultimate objective of this EU committee is to gather examples of success in Europe's island territories and so develop best practices that can be adopted elsewhere. The committee is going to six island territories this year: Majorca is one, while another, for example, is the Isle of Wight.