Honeymoon in Majorca, Chinese are told...

Joan Collins THE Balearic Ministry of Tourism will next week finalise negotiations with the leading Chinese television channel CCTV1 and groups of travel agents from the Beijing and Shanghai areas to offer Majorca as a honeymoon destination. This will be done through the Balearic Institute of Tourism (Ibatur). Offering the Balearics as a honeymoon destination in China is a viable strategy, because, as they have “group” weddings there, there are millions of potential customers for honeymoons, according to the local ministry for tourism. Therefore it will be easy to promote the Balearics as a destination for honeymooners, a spokesman said. On the other hand, for this promotion to be a success it is necessary to offer more than sun, sea and sand, because China has many of its own seaside destinations. A holiday destination maintains its popularity by offering the maximum variety at the point of sale. Honeymoons have been and will be a niche in the market very much in demand. The Majorca Tourist Board promoted honeymoon trips in the 1960s and 70s, and now Ibatur is doing the same in China where there is a large potential clientele. The deal will be finalised next week during the official visit to China by a delegation of Balearic companies led by the Balearic Minister of Tourism, Joan Flaquer. The director of Ibatur, Raimundo Alabern, said that after market research was completed “we considered it an opportune time to reintroduce Majorca as a holiday destination for honeymooners, as it was in the 1960s and 70s. “Back then, the initiative captured a section of the market with a lot of purchasing power and also enhanced greatly the tourist image of Majorca both inside and outside of Spain. “Now we want to repeat this exercise in China because we think that the time is right for it to be successful,” he added. The contacts established during the last few months, according to Alabern, have been very positive. “We have an agreement with the leading television channel in China and with many groups of travel agents. “During the next week, when we visit Beijing and Shanghai, we will reach agreements on how these holidays should be promoted” he said. The presidents of the Hotel Federation of Majorca and Aviba (the Travel Agents Association), Pere Cañellas and Mateo Pou respectively, who were also in China, confirmed that it is “a good idea which could bring a lot of business if all goes well, and Majorca is more than capable of capturing this section of the Chinese market”. According to figures put out by the World Tourist Organisation, in less than 14 years it will be the Chinese who take the most holidays in the world. The growth of the Gross Domestic Product (PIB) above 10 percent and the phenomenon of “one country, two economies”, has meant that a certain part of the population now has a high disposable income. It is predicted that by 2020 some 120 million Chinese will holiday outside their own country.