As UK tourism falls, the Balearic government embarks on a PR campaign to counter anti-tourism reports
A Sunday Times journalist had anticipated hostility; the impression was wholly wrong
Projection calling for a change in direction for Mallorca's tourism that coincided with the July 21 protest in Palma. | MDB
Palma03/09/2024 07:02
The July tourism statistics, published on Monday, showed a ten per cent year-on-year fall in UK tourism in the Balearics. Whether this decrease can be attributed in whole, in part or not at all to the protests - and the reporting of these protests - is open to debate. But prior to the figures being released, the Balearic government's AETIB tourism strategy agency was in contact with its marketing communications agency in the UK, Lotus, regarding a media campaign designed to mitigate possible negative effects of the protests.
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Perhaps it is nothing to do with any protests but that complacency has set in over the years and the expectation that tourists will be grateful to be allowed to visit regardless of the continuing price increases. Other countries will have noticed and to be fair have not made the same greedy mistakes,therefore Greece,Turkey,etc are seeing an increase in their numbers.
Beachcomber@Beachcomber: The vast majority of tourism here doesn't use the £. And there's still a lot of Germans (and other Europeans) that still have a good cache of bob. And they keep coming. But they seek quality over whatever is cheapest, and so the cheapest won't attract them. @James Walker: True, Magaluf is different than it used to be. But you can be sure - it isn't going back to its previous downmarket profile. Until it sheds the old perceptions, it's going to struggle a bit. But it's just a dot on the southwest coast, so the overall impact is minimal.
I've lived on Mallorca 21 years now, and watched it change it's tourism model. It is now too expensive, and has priced a good percentage of people/ families out of affording a holiday here even if they wanted. It's hard even to find a good restaurant at good prices these days. Mallorquins themselves need to take some responsibility to all this. When I arrived over 20 years ago, they owned everything. And have been gradually selling off assets at inflated prices to the highest bidder. Airbnb has not helped for residents to find long term accommodation. As for Magaluf people stay away now because it's not like the old Magaluf. It's not cheap anymore and more beach clubs with expensive drinks/food and whether you like it or not the government killed the vibe/atmosphere with there rules and regulations. I think these protests are ridiculous it's the easy option blaming the tourist. The blame goes a far deeper than the average tourist. Take your protests to government officials.
It’s noticeable how expensive Majorca has become despite the rise in the £ to Euro exchange rate and people have been still coming but cutting expenditure. It’s more noticeable how much the second largest group of visitors that is the German’s are cutting back, sunk by Herr Sholtz financial policies. As a property owner here we still visit frequently but eat in much more than previously.
We've been asked many times by British friends about the anti-tourism sentiment in Mallorca. We explain the (valid) basis of the protests and the (minimal) direct impact of the action on individual tourists. Their general view is that Mallorca has become too busy and expensive compared to other destinations. The British no longer have enough spare money for long holidays in Mallorca or second breaks. The number of visits might be similar but the days and expenditure will be down
If there's actually any consequence worth worrying about, then they should be targeting the English tabloids, who have sensationalised this thing so far out of proportion that it would scare off almost anybody (along with the decreasing availability of cheapness). Yet, by feeding the tabloids something new to sensationalise, maybe that might help put a different tone into it. Although I suspect this reverse of the "anti-tourism" narrative would be framed as "Majorca dying, begging Brits to come back" - as if Mallorca is actually "dying" - and/or as if Brits ever left - and/or as if Brits are the only tourists. But it might help Magaluf, which apparently has been struggling. Still, if Magaluf could successfully shed its British-only "boogie till you puke" perception, then perhaps it could start to attract the other 80% of tourism. They've been trying to do that for a while now, but it's had only minimal impact so far. I've always said that changing the name could help a lot. I suspect the other 80% of tourism would never consider booking a "Magaluf" holiday, where they'd expect to be unwelcome and suffer all night shag & puke parties. That may not be how it actually is, or quite that bad (Magaluf has grown up a lot in recent years), but that's still the perception. Shake that off, and things will start to improve.