Small Mallorca hotels will have difficulties with transition to circularity

The president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, Maria Frontera

Maria Frontera, president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation. | Teresa Ayuga

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma17/03/2022 12:12

During a Thursday event on circularity in tourism, the president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, Maria Frontera, warned of the difficulties many hotels will have of moving from a linear to a circular economy. The island's hotel sector, she noted, is highly fragmented and some 55% of hotel companies have fewer than 100 rooms.

In calling for incentives for small hotel businesses, Frontera stressed the "different speeds" at which advances in sustainability can be made. Nevertheless, she added that there are high degrees of commitment to circularity. "We are going to try to take giant steps so long as the situation allows us."

The hoteliers president pointed out that hotel companies learn from each other and have been implementing circularity measures for years. Since 2017, the federation has been publicising initiatives and has been creating alliances in order to spread knowledge. In her view, training must be a priority. The government needs to take this into account because of the need for "many trained technicians and professionals". Hotel companies are making changes, but they don't have the necessary support.

Frontera drew attention to the particular alliance with the Fundación Impulsa, which has established a self-diagnosis tool and a manual of good practices. A study carried out by Impulsa showed that 48.8% of hotels had completed the path set by the circularity manual, "years before there was a legal framework". "It shows how advanced we are and how we can copy good practices."