Tour operators, airlines and the Foreign Office have launched an awareness campaign in the United Kingdom, with the aim of curtailing the marketing of package tours to Mallorca and Ibiza of the so-called binge tourism.
Tourist groups, including EasyJet Holidays, use their websites to explain all the conditions on the consumption of alcohol in stores and hotels, in accordance with the decree law on binge tourism that has been in force in the Balearic Islands since 2020, but had been minimised by the pandemic due to the lack of UK tourists because of the health and travel restrictions.
The strategy of the tour operators, ABTA and the Foreign Office is to have an impact in the weeks prior to the lifting of all health restrictions, which will take place on February 11. The UK Government and the tourist groups are reminding British citizens that alcohol consumption in all-inclusive hotels in Magalluf, Playa de Palma and Sant Antoni (Ibiza) is limited to a specific number of drinks and that they will not be able to buy alcohol in the stores between 21.30 and 08.00 hours.
Raising awareness is one of the priority objectives for the summer season, hence there is a monitoring of this type of awareness campaign to avoid public order problems in the three tourist areas of the Islands where British tourism of drunkenness has been the general trend.
The British media have also echoed the heavy penalties for all those who practice balconing, which will range between 6,000 and 60,000 euros, as well as for locals who violate advertising regulations.
Direct contacts with Ambassador Hugh Elliott to "avoid problems".
The Minister for Tourism, Iago Negueruela, and the ambassador of the United Kingdom in Spain, Hugh Elliott, carry out exhaustive follow-ups of this type of awareness campaign. The aim is to inform the British market about the current regulations on excessive tourism and the whole range of sanctions. The same strategy is maintained from London, as the Foreign Office is also working to raise awareness among British citizens to reject alcohol tourism in Spanish holiday destinations, including the Balearic Islands.
Key Points
1 Airlines forecast increases of 12%.
Ryanair, Jet2, EasyJet and TUI UK are already announcing increases in bookings for the summer to Mallorca and the rest of the islands above the 2019 figures, as latent demand for holidaying in the UK has grown in recent months.
2 Positive forecasts from April to October
British tourism is the second largest outbound market to the Islands and, together with German tourism, they are the most deseasonalising. The forecast for tourist arrivals is very positive from the beginning of Easter, in April, until the end of October.
3 Greece and Turkey lower prices
With cheaper prices available in Greece and Turkey, the Balearics will have special offers and incentives to ensure its market share.