The British Government's decision to keep the Balearic Islands on the 'Amber' list means more than 100 hotels in Mallorca that were scheduled to open their doors this week, will now stay closed until early July, forcing thousands of workers to stay in ERTE.
"The fact that the UK is maintaining its conservative position on international travel, will determine hotel openings in areas that usually have a large influx of British tourists,” said the Hotel Business Federation of Mallorca, or FEHM.
“The British Government’s decision is bad news for workers and companies, but we are confident that the second emitting market for the Islands will be reactivated at the end of June and that this will lead to the reopening of tourist establishments,” said the Secretary General of the Federation of Services, Mobility & Consumption of UGT, or FeSMC-UGT, José García.
“British tourists come via package holidays, so it will have a huge impact on other Sectors, such as transport and excursions and 70% of bus fleets will likely be in the garage until the end of June because there won’t be any work,” said FEBT and Discretionary Road Transport Association President, Rafael Roig.
"Political issues seem to have prevailed when making this decision, which will have a negative impact on the entire tourism value chain in the United Kingdom and in the Balearic Islands.”
British Tourist Groups, including TUI UK and Jet2 Holidays said on Friday that they're postponing flight schedules for Mallorca until July.
TUI UK, is demanding that the authorities clarify their reasons for removing Portugal from the ‘Green’ list and not adding the Balearic Islands, which have below average contagion levels.
Jet2's decision to delay its flight schedule until the first week of July has sparked concern amongst hoteliers, travel agents and airlines.
"Everything indicates that we won’t have British tourists for much of the summer season,” said a spokesperson. “Some business owners fear that London won’t change its travel restrictions until the end of July and that means British tourism won’t be reactivated until August, which is very bad news for tourism, the economy and employment in the Balearic Islands.
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Lisa, it’s not a question of asking the mainland for more vaccines. The central government are distributing them to the different regions as fast as they arrive in proportion to their respective populations. If Balearics were to receive more than their share it would mean other region(s) receiving less than theirs. We have enough problems between regions with this pandemic without adding to them.
Totalmente comprensible y razonable decisión Gobierno Británico.
I flew back to Gatwick today after 2 weeks on Majorca. 5 passengers on my flight. We were outnumbered by the crew. This is clearly unsustainable. I don’t blame the British Government for prudence, I blame them for a lack of evolution in their thinking. More and more countries are following the expected (and inevitable) path of divergent conditions for vaccinated versus unvaccinated travellers (most recently France). The UK Govt has got to stop acting as if none of us are vaccinated until we’re all vaccinated. It’s laudably fair and totally impractical. Not only will we never get to that point but other countries will have been reaping the benefit for months.
Why is the British government getting blamed for its prudent approach? if we had a socialist government it would be no different, Sir Keir Starmer wants even more countries on the red list. Each of the devolved governments has reached the same conclusion as the English parliament yet they are sweepingly being blamed as though it’s some kind of quid pro quo after brexit. What rubbish! We got our freedom albeit to spend on our own shores!
Whilst I agree that politics is playing out and I suspect Boris’s UK Government want to keep tourists spending on home soil - they have been clear about the green list criteria. Vaccination numbers are key. As of this morning, the Balearics still has less than 20 per cent of the population fully vaccinated. It’s just not good enough - nowhere near. So if the Spanish islands want the Brits back - they know exactly what they need to do. It’s not rocket science. Ask the mainland for more vaccines. And act quickly- the summer season is running out of time.
Politicians on the news yesterday said there’s unlikely to be any holiday abroad this year. The priority is domestic unlocking. I doubt anything will change end of June, end of July is optimistic. I suspect it’s next Easter before I think we’ll see any significant change, sadly.