President Armengol stated in Madrid on Thursday that health security is the key for the tourism season and that "we have reached the decisive moment, the reopening of tourism".
Speaking at a Fitur tourism fair breakfast press briefing, Armengol said that with low incidence of the virus in the Balearics, the next step is the recovery of air and sea transport and the gradual return to normality that has been "lost" because of the virus. The Balearics strategy is working, as the islands are among places with "the greatest security in the world". By contrast, competing destinations in the Mediterranean have incidence rates more than five times higher than the Balearics.
Airline estimates, she noted, are for similar numbers of routes and flights as summer 2019. The tourism season will be "good" and will last until the beginning of winter. This will mean "a lot of employment".
The Balearic government and the tourism industry, Armengol added, will continue to apply Covid protocols over the coming months, while the vaccination plan will "lead us to normality". She highlighted efforts made by Balearic society in preparing for the moment to reap the benefits. That moment, the new season, "has arrived".
The president pointed to the increasing number of weekly flights between Germany and the Balearics and emphasised that the objective is for a return to work of some 200,000 employees. She maintained that a new stage for tourism means that "tourism of excesses" will be left behind and that there will be more profitability, employment and sustainability. Now, she stressed, is not the time to think just about the short term, but to diversify the economy, so that it is not solely dependent on tourism.