Credit where credit is due. Having Sir Bradley Wiggins backing the Balearics at the World Travel Market yesterday was a very clever move indeed. This said, it was not rocket science. He has been training, holidaying and now property owning in Majorca for nearly two decades and, ironically, it was the former socialist-led government which first cashed in on the close relationships between Majorca and TEAM GB, and now Team Sky.
They invited and paid tribute to Olympic gold medalist Rebecca Romero MBE whose father is Majorcan at the WTM. Since then, two Tour de France winners have been training on the island every winter, Wiggins and Chris Froome, who will shortly be back for the Team Sky camp, but no other Balearic government has had the common sense to cash in on these super stars coming to the island.
The Balearics needs more than biscuits and sobrassada to take on the global holiday industry, and this year it appears that they have got it right and managed to cause a sensation at the fair.
In the past we’ve had Michael Douglas and Claudia Schiffer but sporting greats attract more attention and appeal to a much wider audience, especially when it comes to cycling which is the region’s fastest-growing tourism sector and is on the cusp of even further expansion with the hotel sector saddling up for longer seasons thanks to cycling.