The national government's delegate to the Balearics, Teresa Palmer, took part today in the Magalluf launch of this year's British Foreign Office "Take Your Pic" campaign. The launch was presided over by Lloyd Milen, Consul-General in Barcelona and the Consular Regional Manager for north-east Spain, which includes Catalonia and the Balearics.
Responsible for security issues on the islands, Palmer, addressing those gathered at the BH Mallorca Hotel, said that there was total support for a change to the tourist model in resorts such as Magalluf. This change, she observed, was being brought about by public administrations - municipal, regional and national - and the hotel sector.
The campaign, which is directed at different resorts and destinations in Europe and certainly not only Magalluf, has business and organisational backing from ABTA, easyJet, Club 18-30, Thomson Scene and Ibiza Rocks. It operates via various platforms - social networks and videos - and with stickers and wristbands. An aim is to present a positive image, one without excesses, of the youth tourism market in Magalluf: the main target audience is aged 17 to 25.
Palmer said that young tourists should come to have fun but do so without indulging in excesses and being out of control. In this way, they can share the resort with other tourism markets, such as the family market. She considered that campaigns like "Take Your Pic" are important in continuing the positive trend made in recent seasons, during which there has been a decline in crime rates.
The campaign urges the hashtag #holidaywin over #holidayfail. Its message isn't solely about behaviour, such as that to do with getting drunk or climbing over balconies, it also deals with practical advice on, for example, not being robbed at the beach or having drinks spiked. It is very much about staying out of trouble and so avoiding a holidayfail.
More than 30 UK travel organisations signed up to the first year of the campaign in 2015 and more are expected to this year. It is claimed that it helped to reduce incidents involving the youth market (up to the age of 30) in nine European resorts from 821 to 789, and this despite an increased number of travellers.
Paul Rodwell, the Foreign Office's southern Europe regional campaigns manager, was quoted in Travel Mole in February as saying that "Take Your Pic" exceeded expectations last year and that the drop in the number of incidents was very encouraging. Nikki White of ABTA, quoted in the same report, said that the campaign "highlights simple steps that can help to promote safe and healthy holidays".