The opposition Partido Popular Parliamentary Group today demanded that the Minister of Economic Model, Tourism and Labour, Iago Negueruela, apologise for government’s “the shameful song and dance” at the international fair World Travel Market (WTM) in London.
PP MP Salomé Cabrera who criticised Negueruela’s “arrogant statements”, as well as his “ignorance and lack of knowledge of how serious tourism is”.
During the WTM fair Negueruela said that the regional government had not gone to the fair to promote tourism. “Why did he take a Balearic Islands stand to the WTM?” asked Cabrera, who accused Negueruela of “having no idea what it means to generate confidence in the markets” and of having no plan for tourism policy.
Negueruela defended the fact that the Balearics “is a leader” in tourism and, for this reason, he is going to explain “his road map” at international fairs.
The Sustainable Tourism Tax, the Waste Law, the Tourism Law and the Law on Excesses are some of the issues that the regional government has explained at different fairs, according to the minister.
He also stressed that the government met with the main agents in the sector and top business representatives, such as ABTA, TUI and easyJet, to whom it has explained the islands’ sustainability policies.
They also discussed the start of the tourist season, which, Negueruela insisted, is expected to begin in February 2023.
The minister concluded his speech by stating that the Balearics “leads tourism policy here and in Europe” and that it has the highest tourist spending in history and the best employment figures in the sector.
The PP asked Negueruela a second question about WTM.
MP Sebastià Sagreras insisted that the minister should “apologise”, given that “the international media agree that he went to London to make a fool of himself.
“This time you have not done well, Mr Negueruela,” he said, adding that the president of the Balearic PP, Marga Prohens, “did go to stand by the tourism sector and the institutions”.
In his opinion, the government “did not go to London with anything under control”, nor with “an agreed message” between the different institutions.
For Sebastià Sagreras, Negueruela “went to London to do tourism” and “has neglected his duties”.
Once again, the minister reiterated that his presence at the WTM was to explain the government’s tourism policies and to support the companies and island councils that attend the fair.
“There has never been a government that has supported tourism more than this one,” he said.
“It is true that there is a certain kind of tourism of excesses that we do not want, and we have said so at international fairs,” he said, stressing that what should not be done “is to go abroad to criticise a destination” as, he said, the PP does.