At Thursday's 'Mallorca Safe Tourism' forum organised by the Council of Mallorca's Tourism Foundation, the Council president, Catalina Cladera, said that the entire tourism value chain and all "responsible institutions" want to ensure that Mallorca is a safe destination.
Cladera highlighted the ability of the tourism sector to react to the health crisis through effective implementation of technology and protocols. After the first wave of the pandemic, one with "limited incidence" in Mallorca, the tourism season began with the pilot plan in June. This allowed 50% of hotels to open.
Despite these efforts, however, restrictions imposed by governments of the two main foreign markets - the UK and Germany - "prevented the desired results from being achieved". Nevertheless, Cladera noted, the Balearics had more foreign tourists in July and August than any other region.
Pointing to public-private cooperation in preparing for next year's season, the Council president stressed that under the Balearic government's leadership and with the backing of all institutions, mechanisms for protection from the pandemic were reinforced for this season. She observed that the Balearics was the first region to restrict nightlife and one of the first to regulate access to beaches and to make the wearing of masks mandatory, while there had been a strengthening of track and trace and of testing.
This, she maintained, "has allowed us to bend the infection curve of the second wave and make the Balearics one of the regions least affected by Covid". "But we will not lower our guard at any time. Without health, there is no economy and so no tourism."
The priority, Cladera added, "is to continue improving the epidemiological data in order to be able to establish tourist corridors as soon as possible". With these in mind, she joined calls for there to be standardised controls for safe mobility at ports and airports in Europe.