As anti-overtourism protests have recently been hitting Spain and, more precisely, Mallorca, local hoteliers have launched a new campaign to make sure tourists feel welcome on the island. According to the Mallorca Hotel Business Federation, tourism is a much-needed part of the local economy and identity of the island.
“Tourists go home”, “No to mass tourism” or “Mass tourism kills the city”: the slogans used during the anti-overtourism protests aren’t designed to make tourists feel at home, on the contrary. Moreover, recent vandalism on the headquarters of the Regional Ministry of Tourism in Palma and other incidents have been putting the island in a bad light, possibly deterring potential tourists from visiting.
“Mallorca has been, is and must continue to be a hospitable land. There are competing destinations such as Greece, Turkey and the south of France that welcome tourists with a red carpet. We must also be aware of their value,” said Javier Vich, president of the Majorca Hotel Business Federation.
The Mallorca Hotel Business Federation has thus launched a new campaign to counter the ‘tourismophobia’ of what they call a “vocal minority”. Instead, they want to welcome tourists and make them feel at home on the island. The campaign includes the rollout of posters with slogans such as “Tourist, go home happy. Be happier returning to Mallorca soon”, “Tourist, go home safe and come back soon”, and “Tourist, don’t go home, stay longer with us”. The billboards will be on show during the entire summer.
Impact on the economy
According to the Mallorca Hotel Business Federation, they are looking at ways to get the balance right between tourism, infrastructure, sustainability, and a successful coexistence with residents. The hoteliers stress that finding a way to coexist is essential, partly because of the fact that tourism provides jobs for more than a third of the Balearic Islands‘ working population. In order to further improve the impact of the tourism industry on the local economy, there has been a 13.5% wage increase in the hotel industry over the last three years.
“Every month during the high season, 235,000 salaries are paid in sectors linked to tourism: transport, catering, culture, leisure and hospitality. We cannot allow a radical minority to damage the work carried out over many years by so many people who have made tourism their way of life,” Javier Vich continued.
However, not everyone seems to agree with that point of view. According to anti-overtourism organisations such as Menys Turisme Més Vida, the tourist industry impoverished the local population, amongst other things by driving up the prices of real estate – especially in popular tourist spots such as Palma – and by exhausting the island’s natural resources. Local officials have already taken some measures to counter this, including ceilings on short-term holiday rentals in targeted destinations, but more will have to be done in the future in order to safeguard the interests of both locals and tourists alike.
