Majorca sends three-word warning to UK tourists planning holidays next year

Majorca's desperate three-word plea has been issued to British holidaymakers after anti-tourism protests. European Union holidaymakers have been offered reassurance from Balearic Island chiefs after weeks and months of protests.

Susanna Sciacovelli, the director of Tourism Demand and Hospitality for the council of Majorca, said "we live off tourism”. She told Majorca Daily Bulletin: "We’re no longer talking about numbers. Historically, we’d sit down with airlines and tour operators, measure how many tourists had arrived, and congratulate ourselves on having X percentage more than the previous year.

"Today, we are not worried about how many tourists come to Mallorca only the impact they have. Admittedly, in the year following COVID, we were happy to toast a return to pre-pandemic numbers but, since then, the focus is firmly on sustainability."

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She said: “Let’s be clear that we live off tourism: currently 87 percent of GDP and 40 percent of employment. Many destinations would kill to have what we have. In the same day, you can enjoy a round of golf, play tennis, relax at the beach, go to work, dine in a restaurant – it’s such a privilege. And, if we didn’t have tourism, where would we be?"

She added: “Taxes paid by hoteliers, business owners, employees, plus the money spent by tourists, help build our hospitals, our schools. It’s a circular economy that gives locals their quality of life.” Sciacovelli also admitted that the system does need change due to the island's “limited resources”.

“But you cannot, especially on a small island, continue to fixate on numbers and bring more tourists," she said. “Resources are limited and this is why we are now debating the ‘Island of tomorrow”. She went on: “For the first time in our history, we’re talking more to the resident than to the tourist and learning so much.

“We’re not trying to win fans or public opinion, simply striving to transform the tourism industry such that it satisfies everyone. Everyone is on the right track; we just need to improve our messaging.”