The escalating tension in the Middle East and the open conflict in Iran could alter international tourist flows, but the major hotel groups are calling for caution before anticipating a clear benefit for destinations such as the Balearic Islands. This was the warning given on Thursday in Palma by the president and CEO of Meliá Hotels International, Gabriel Escarrer, who argued that the possible arrival of tourists diverted from other destinations ‘should be taken with a pinch of salt’.
During the first edition of the Mallorca Energy Summit, a forum focused on the role of energy in tourism competitiveness organised by Estel, Borbalán and Grup Serra, which publishes the Majorca Daily Bulletin, Escarrer warned that this possible refuge effect could be offset by the rising cost of air transport: ‘Kerosene has already risen by 40% and if it continues to rise, it will end up affecting the Balearics,’ he said, while expressing his hope that the instability in the Middle East ‘will end as soon as possible’.
Escarrer also referred to the situation in Cuba, saying that several chains are choosing to close establishments or concentrate their activity in certain complexes in view of the operational difficulties the country is experiencing. The president of Palladium Hotel Group, Abel Matutes, made a similar statement, also calling for caution when assessing the possible impact of the conflict on tourism in the Balearics.
Matutes admitted that the upcoming Easter holiday could see a certain increase in visitors who, under other circumstances, would have chosen destinations in North Africa or the Arab world. However, he insisted that a prolongation of the conflict could lead to an energy crisis with negative consequences for the economy of the islands and wanted to make it clear that the tourism sector cannot ‘even hint’ that a destination benefits from a war.
During the round table moderated by the Serra Group’s director general of audiovisuals, Paula Serra, both leaders defended the sector’s commitment to sustainability ‘out of conviction and profitability’, although Escarrer criticised the fact that certain measures are imposed by the authorities without taking into account the needs of businesses or the customer experience. ‘I believe in the 2030 Agenda, but only if it does not affect customer well-being. I’m not going to tell American tourists that their room cannot be below 24 degrees or that I can’t fill the swimming pool.’ Escarrer rejected the idea that hotels should be held responsible for water problems when, in his opinion, there are shortcomings in public planning.
Matutes described as ‘insane’ the fact that some regulations are drawn up without taking into account the impact on customers. In his opinion, policies have been promoted that make some destinations less competitive. ‘We are all sensitive to environmental protection, but we must also be sensible and avoid certain forms of fanaticism,’ he said.
The second round table addressed the issue of trigeneration plants in Caribbean resort hotels as a means of ensuring supply, reducing costs and accelerating decarbonisation. Under the title From diesel to own energy sources: the new standard in holiday resorts, and moderated by the Director General of Circular Economy, Energy Transition and Climate Change, Diego Viu, the panellists included Juan Sobrino (Palladium), Andreas Eberharter (Jenbacher), José Luis Garrido (Tecna & Solius) and Silvia Vendrell (Estel Green).
For hotels, which consume 30% of the total energy consumed by the tourism sector, it is still difficult to talk about decoupling from traditional fuels. ‘Hotels have to continue to rely on fossil fuels: it would be impossible to operate with only photovoltaic and wind power,’ said Sobrino. However, with the new trigeneration plants (an efficient process that produces electricity, heat and cooling from a single primary source), establishments can optimise their consumption ‘by charging batteries at the cheapest time and using them at the most expensive time, saving hundreds of thousands of euros a year’.
Vendrell pointed out that ‘traditional fuels may not be as efficient, but you need them as a backup’. Above all, in matters of basic needs. ‘We can’t tell the customer that we’ve run out of power and leave them stranded.’ As director of prescription at Tecna&Solius, Garrido pointed out that companies based on the implementation of their own energy to improve resilience ‘are the necessary accomplice for the Mallorcan hotelier’s objectives in terms of comfort and quality of service.’
Regarding the use of artificial intelligence in all these types of adaptation strategies, Eberharter pointed out that it is a key tool for improving internal development processes, although it has taken a while to implement. ‘It took us seven or eight years to develop it, but we are already using it.’ For Garrido, AI ‘above all facilitates diagnostics.’
In the third session, it was revealed that the decisions made by RIU in recent years have resulted in 90% of the chain worldwide operating with renewable energy. Investment in photovoltaic panels alone amounts to €10 million. This was stated on Thursday by Naomi Riu, the hotel chain’s financial director. ‘Investing in green energy will give us a competitive advantage.’
Riu was one of the participants in the third panel of the day, entitled Capital, risk and return: how to finance the energy transition 2026-2030. Ignacio Barriendos, CEO of Do Good People, moderated a panel discussion in which Eduardo Requena, from Grupo Estel, explained how the commitment to more sustainable energy options translates directly into companies’ bottom lines, as it guarantees them huge savings. He also stressed that his firm ‘also guarantees the prevention of disasters such as those caused by the hurricane in Jamaica, through greater stability in the supply network’.
With regard to the integration of AI systems, Nicolás de Gaviria, from Deloitte Legal, argued that the human element will continue to be essential, although it will be forced to improve. ‘The level of professional demand will be higher, but AI is not the one that will sit down to negotiate.’
The president of the Balearic government, Marga Prohens, said that she has joined the Partido Popular’s national petition and called on the central government to reduce VAT on energy to 10% as a priority countermeasure to the rise in fuel prices triggered by the war in Iran. In her closing speech, Prohens added ‘the review of taxes that increase electricity bills’ as another of the immediate measures to be taken by Pedro Sánchez’s government.
The current context, she pointed out, in which a war is once again having a major impact on global energy prices, provides even more reasons to commit to the energy autonomy that renewables confer, Prohens claimed. This is especially true in ‘particularly sensitive territories’ to this type of fluctuation, such as islands.
‘All this reminds us that the energy transition is a strategic decision, not just an environmental one. Because it serves to make economies less vulnerable, gain more autonomy and more stability.’ A path to the future that the Balearic Islands, he stressed, must lead through policies that have already been implemented, such as the promotion of self-consumption and the promotion of electric mobility. The president has once again called for active collaboration between the public and private sectors at the present time, when the geopolitical situation is passing on the cost of energy to the public and punishing ‘families’ pockets and the competitiveness of businesses’.