At the opening of the International Summit of Sustainable Destinations in Palma on Thursday, the president of the Council of Mallorca, Catalina Cladera, stated that the tourism of the future will need to be sustainable or they may not be tourism.
Arranged by the Council's tourism foundation and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and held at the Palacio de Congresos, Cladera said at the summit that Mallorca, the first destination in the Mediterranean, aspires to be "a world benchmark for tourism sustainability and to lead the tourism of the future". Hand in hand with the UNWTO, she added, the island is working to build more sustainable and responsible tourism in line with the 2030 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Cladera observed that Mallorca and the Balearics have more foreign bookings for Easter than any other Spanish region, adding that figures from the national ministry of tourism indicate that Spain will attract 80% of foreign tourists in 2019. "It is great news that we are recovering our visitor figures. Everything indicates that this is going to be the year of recovery. But we have to go further and take advantage of the changing situation to move towards a tourism model that protects natural and heritage resources and accelerates the transition of tourism towards zero CO2 emissions, energy efficiency, a circular economy and digital transformation."
Mallorca, Cladera insisted, is a quality, all-year destination, where the tourism sector is at the forefront and there is "unanimous consensus that the transition to a more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable model must be accelerated".