At the ITB Berlin travel and tourism fair on Tuesday, President Armengol stressed a Balearic government commitment to tourism recovery (from the pandemic) based on sustainability rather than by focusing so much on the number of tourists.
Observing that the year has started "very well", she highlighted the objective of seasonally adjusting tourism in order to strengthen the low and medium seasons.
Referring to the new tourism circularity and sustainability law, Armengol reiterated the need for "quality, not quantity". The law, she said, marks a very clear line in the direction of sustainability, something of importance to German visitors "who appreciate the environmental regeneration of our islands" and who go to the Balearics "not only to enjoy the sun and the beach".
Describing German tourism as "a conscious tourism", the president noted that it is "the most faithful we have in the low and medium seasons".*
Tourism minister Iago Negueruela said that "we have to move forward in presenting the Balearic Islands as one of the most sustainable destinations in the world". In 2022, he explained, "we achieved growth in spending per tourist of two per cent". "With a lower total of tourists than in 2019, we registered more income.** You don't have to think so much about whether 100,000 more or fewer people come, but about how to generate more wealth for the region."
* In January this year, as an example, 50% of foreign tourism was German.
** True, but the total number of tourists was only 397 fewer than in 2019.