A delegation from Palma is in New York to promote the city and Mallorca to the US tourism market. What Palma's tourism councillor, Elena Navarro, describes as "an unprecedented initiative" is on the back of the successful launch of the United Airlines route from Newark-New York.
On Wednesday evening, there will be a presentation at a Fifth Avenue venue; 65 tour operators and 17 media outlets have confirmed their attendance. Prior to this main event, there have been meetings with tour operators who specialise in premium tourism - the high-end luxury market. Signature Travel Network and Virtuoso have been two of these tour operators.
These are networks of travel agencies with a clientele that has high purchasing power and is looking for different and exclusive experiences - a market segment that Palma town hall is especially keen to capture because of its positive economic impact. There is strong interest in Palma and Mallorca because, as the manager of the Palma 365 Foundation, Pedro Homar, puts it - "we are the great unknown". "But the United Airlines service and its commercial success has positioned us throughout the east coast of the United States."
Homar adds that these tour operators can see that there is latent demand for a premium market to travel to Palma and Mallorca.