SOS Turismo

For me it’s a damning indictment for this Government here in the Balearics that on an island that depends pretty much on tourism, we are still none the wiser whether we’re going to get a Summer Season here or not. Last Friday a Facebook campaign started called SOS Turismo. A week later they have just over 28,500 members. The Government have said whilst they recognise the group they’re not sure whether it’s the right message to send out. What are people supposed to do, after eighteen months of nothing just sit and wait? 

SOS of course is a universally known cry for help, Save Our Souls. 

But to be honest it could be;

Save Our Season

Save Our Summer

Save Our Sanity

Monday apparently is D-Day in the Uk when Boris says whether Brits can go on holiday. Nicola Sturgeon the Scottish First Minister has already said it’s unlikely that Scots will be allowed abroad this summer. The problem with all these announcements is nobody really has a clue what the future holds. The only thing you can hang your hat on is the vaccine and the quicker it gets rolled out the better. 

Which means that the country or destination that get themselves sorted are going to be ahead of everyone else. 

The graph below shows you the latest data. 

This appeared in the Bulletin this week, make sure you read and read again the paragraph I’ve highlighted. 

Tourist Groups say the Greek Islands of Crete, Kos and Rhodes are currently topping the list of preferred destinations for summer holidays and were extremely popular last year too.

“Last year these three islands registered higher levels of activity than Spanish tourist destinations, including Mallorca and it looks like the same thing will happen in summer 2021, if the current health conditions persist,” they said.

Turkey is also positioning itself as a competitive destination for Mallorca this year, particularly the coastal area of Antalya.

UK and German Tour Operators, including Jet2, EasyJet Holidays, Alltours, FTI, Schaunsland and DER Touristik point out that the situation changes from week to week.

But one thing they all agree on is that Mallorca will monopolise summer reservations as soon as the Covid infection levels improve and they stressed the need for Spain’s vaccination campaign to get underway as quickly as possible when vaccines arrive from pharmaceutical companies that have signed contracts with Brussels. 

Which means we should be busting a gut to get the vaccination programme started! 

The National Government has said no favoritism. I get that but with no other industry of any note on the islands surely we should be at the front of the queue? Remembering that we are just 2.5% of the overall Spanish population. 

Spain’s largest industries by annual output are textiles and apparel, food and beverage, metals, chemicals and shipbuilding. Tourism is also a significant contributor to the country’s economy. Spain’s foreign-tourist industry is the second largest in the world.

The industry’s contribution to gross domestic product tumbled to between 4% and 5%, according to estimates from Funcas think-tank analyst Maria Jesus Fernandez, from a 12% share in 2019. I dread to think of the numbers here. 

The other problem could be the “Red list countries” if Spain does get included our regional Government needs to be lobbying now to get us removed. As an island destination none of the Balearics or Canaries for that matter should get included. Remember they were talking about it last year? But nothing was agreed. It seems to have been forgotten and it’s something that should have been agreed when we had the opportunity. 

As everyday passes it’s another day less for businesses to open. 

It’s good to see the numbers going down and things slowly returning to normal. But we all need to keep our vigilance and hope that the vaccines arrive in time for us all to enjoy a summer season. 

Take care everyone and enjoy your Weekend! 

Richie presents the Radio One Mallorca Breakfast show Monday to Friday 07.30-11.00am on 93.8fm in Mallorca and 102fm in Calvià, online at www.radioonemallorca.com on mobile through their free App for IPhone & Android, The Tunein Radio App, iTunes, the Spanish TDT TV service and all smart speakers. If you can’t hear him on the radio then you’ll find him working at Pirates Adventure the islands number one night out and every now and again he may make an understudy appearance! 

Follow him on Twitter @DadTaxi1 & Instagram @dad.taxi or feel free to email him at rprior@globobalear.com