It will take a while for plans that new administrations have for tourism to be presented, but one thing is already clear - bodies for tourism marketing are to be given a major boost. These are the Council of Mallorca's tourism foundation and Palma town hall's 365 foundation.
Appointments have yet to be made, so speculation remains as to who will be the next Balearic tourism minister and the next councillor for tourism at the Council of Mallorca, which has chief responsibility for the island's tourism promotion. One position is known and that is the head of Palma 365. Pedro Homar will carry on. One of the great survivors of political change that normally leads to senior officials being replaced, Homar was originally appointed when the Partido Popular ran the town hall from 2011 to 2015. Two periods of left-wing administration didn't affect this appointment; he is highly regarded across the political spectrum.
Of those in the frame to be the next councillor for tourism, a leading contender is José Marcial Rodríguez, the president of the hoteliers association in Cala Millor who was a one-time managing director of the ATB Balearic tourism agency, a government department that was replaced by the current AETIB agency. Maria Frontera, the president of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation, has also been mentioned.
In Palma, the deputy mayor for tourism, Javier Bonet, wants Palma 365 to have more resources and powers. Coordination with the Council of Mallorca will be paramount in agreeing on tourism marketing.
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Two issues spring to mind here: Firstly, a hotelier for the top tourism job? Don’t the big hotels have enough power already? Isn’t balance and an over arching perspective what’s needed? Secondly, marketing is pretty much a disaster in the Balearics. Does anyone recall the tourism minister, critical of the British tourist - whilst on a marketing trip to the UK? Or the beautifully crafted eco quality tourism plan for the island being adopted, while cruise liners destroy Palma and plans are hatched to run a giant electric cable through the nature reserve at Alcúdia. Did someone miss the memo??
They need to be a bit careful here. Over promotion may well diminish the appeal that's made it so overwhelmingly popular in recent years. One of the product marketing secrets for maintaining a "trendy" image is "under-promise, over-deliver". If they keep pushing Mallorca down people's throats (especially when the image is already quite good), then you may unwittingly set expectation above what you deliver, and risk eventually being perceived as something less than what it's promoted as (unless of course, they choose to target the masses with cheapness & quantity, and then we can be rather sure the image will quickly become passé). Mallorca's image has been and continues to be becoming more and more hip and desirable. Be careful not to damage that.
Minister of Tourism is a big and important job. Mallorca is at a tourism crossroads and currently heading in the wrong direction. The headline in the Mail today is "Auf Wiedersehen Brit! Drunk Germans take the title of WORST tourists from boozy British holidaymakers in Majorca." The pictures accompanying the article shows gangs of youths seemingly drunk and believing they are in ownership of their surroundings. To confront them for their anti-social behaviour would ignite a hail storm of abuse and potentially violence. These gangs will drive away the main groups of tourists who Mallorca depends on for all year round revenue. The crossroads is how the MoT deals with an image of Mallorca blighted by such articles and turns around a declining image in the media of the island. A big issue for a big appointee.