At the Fitur tourism fair in Madrid on Wednesday, President Armengol outlined proposed new tourism legislation. This will be to shape the model for the future, one based on sustainability and circularity and aimed at ensuring the quality of life of residents and workers in the tourism sector.
Armengol pointed to the importance of dialogue and collaboration between the public and private sectors. In 2021, this had enabled an extension to the season and the recovery of 90 per cent of national tourism as it had been in 2019. "The Balearics recovered 55% of all tourism, and the 2022 season will be much better."
This dialogue and collaboration, she explained, will assist in "shaping the tourism of the future that we want". The new tourism law will mean that the Balearics continue to be "leaders". "We want to be recognised for being the first to take bold initiatives in committing to quality and occupational health."
The islands are on their way to becoming the world’s first circular tourist destination. There will be circularity plans for all companies, "which will make us much more efficient in energy expenditure and in the consumption of a resource which is as scarce as water is". There will be far greater awareness of the "best waste" being that which is not generated at all, while that which is generated "must be recycled or reused". All this will help the Balearics become "a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable destination".
Accompanying the president at the presentation was the tourism minister, Iago Negueruela. He emphasised that all the transformations contemplated in this new model of the future have to be made by understanding sustainability in three ways - social, economic and environmental. "Tourism must integrate everyone and not just tourists." European funds, he added, will facilitate the transition of the tourism sector in the Balearics.