Azucena Jiménez, manager of the Ashome Minorca hoteliers association, has added her voice to others who believe that the UK quarantine requirement and the advice against non-essential are "political" and not based on health criteria.
Her message on behalf of the association to UK tourists is that "if they are able to", they should come to Minorca and rest easy in the knowledge that it is a safe destination. For those who have cancelled, "we look forward to seeing you next season".
The UK policy clearly has a great impact on Minorca, as the UK is the largest foreign market. It is comparable in size to the Spanish market, which is also being undermined by cancellations due to coronavirus outbreaks on the mainland. Much of Minorca's Spanish market comes from affected regions, Catalonia most notably.
Jiménez says that the hoteliers were aware that they weren't going to have much of a season. Nevertheless, hotels have been opened "out of social responsibility and to revive the island's economy". "The outlook is much more difficult now, and hoteliers are having to assess whether it is viable to maintain activity beyond the second half of August."
According to data from Ashome, average occupancy is around 25%, and this is below what is commonly accepted to be breakeven.
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Maybe they should review their pricing as we looked into going for a few days but the prices are astronomical.