Costa d'en Blanes. | Toni Diez

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Miguel Sanz has been the CEO of Spain's tourism agency Turespaña since 2020. In Palma last week for the Spain Tourism Summit 2023, he observed that "the history of the Balearic Islands is a success story in terms of tourism". "Strategies adopted by administrations have hit the nail on the head and been successful in tourism planning."

In this regard, there is now the challenge posed by saturation and overcrowding. Sanz stresses that "tourism is the engine of economic and social development, so tourism policies must support this while not having negative repercussions".

Miguel Sanz, CEO of Turespaña, in Palma Mallorca

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"Saturation occurs with some aspects of tourism activity, so it is necessary to know how to manage success with innovative policies. Strategy for this in the Balearics has been exemplary. There is a very specific tourism law, there is regulation of the number of cruise ships in Palma, while public/private collaboration for maximum consensus has been achieved. The Balearics have given a clear response to the challenge and to seek to avoid negative developments that have occurred in other tourist destinations in the Mediterranean and in the world."

As for competition with other destinations, Sanz is clear that "we should not compete on price, but on quality". "We must offer the best quality/price ratio (value for money) and this must be the basis of our competitiveness. This will make us (Spain as a whole) a profitable destination and commit to everything that improves quality - infrastructure, services, accommodation and other elements."

On this, he has words of praise for the Aena airports authority and its "impeccable airport management". For example, "in 2022, Spanish airports, unlike the rest of Europe, worked perfectly and with punctuality rates that were envied by the competition". "Aena knew how to manage the post-pandemic passenger flow last year. It was well prepared."