Majorca launches ‘we love tourists’ campaign | World | News
A campaign promoting tourism in Majorca has been launched in a blow to protesters warning tourists to stay away from the holiday hotspot.
This year has seen a wave of protests against overtourism on the Mediterranean island as locals demand visitor numbers are managed more effectively.
Locals have “occupied” beaches and taken to the streets of Palma in a mass protest after Majorca received a record 14 million visitors from overseas last year.
It emerged this week that anti-tourism activists had put up fake closure signs at beaches on the island to deter tourists from visiting.
Majorca’s ADED Association of Distributors has launched a “We Love Tourism” campaign in a bid to repair any damage to the island’s tourist industry, according to news website Majorca Daily Bulletin.
The group admitted that Majorca faces problems with parking and illegal accommodation, but insulting visitors won’t solve them. It comes after graffiti appeared on the island saying “Tourists go home” and “Kill a tourist”.
A political row has erupted in the wake of the campaign, with right wing party Vox backing the move and accusing left wing rivals of trying to bring in “economic racism”.
David Gil, Deputy Spokesman for Vox in the Council of Majorca, said in a statement quoted by Majorca Daily Bulletin that ADED’s claim was “just”.
He described tourism as the “economic engine” of the Balearic Islands and demanded immediate steps to protect Majorca’s image as a welcoming and respectful destination.
Mr Gil said: “It is regrettable to see how the left-wing parties, motivated by purely electoral interests, use their political machinery to divide and polarise society by fomenting a climate of rejection towards tourists that clearly benefits their client base, but endangers the economic future of the archipelago.”
Vox called on the Spanish and Majorcan governments to heed the concerns of the island’s businesses and protect tourism which the party said is “a vital sector for Majorca’s economy”.
Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel told German daily Bild am Sonntag that he understood protests against overtourism in Majorca and that they should be taken seriously.
He pointed to increasing rent and house prices as well as traffic volumes as among protesters’ concerns.
Mr Ebel told Bild: “It is important to analyse what motivates people, how much tourism they want and how much they don’t. Ultimately, it is the people who live there who should decide how much tourism they want.”
Meanwhile, countries including Algeria have launched a major drive to lure millions more tourists to their shores, with plans to add 300,000 extra beds by the end of the 2020s.
