Conflicting views over start of tourist season

The Balearic Minister for Tourism, Joan Flaquer, has said that he is convinced that the medium season will be “very good.” He announced that the Balearic Ministry for Tourism will “immediately start promotional campaigns aimed at encouraging tourists from Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain”.

These are traditionally the biggest markets for Balearic tourism.
After saying that the forecasts indicate that the medium seasons (May to June and September to October) will be “very good”, he added that he hoped that “these forecasts will be converted into a reality”.

The President of the Association of Hotel Chains, Francisco Miralles, asked the hoteliers not to make special offers to tour operators during the medium season, guaranteeing that in July and August they will have “an excellent number of visitors staying with them”. “The hoteliers need to keep their price levels stable”, he said.
The Association also demanded that the Spanish Government should “invest more and give more attention to the islands, such as financial aid for the remodelling of the Playa de Palma”.

On the subject of the “green card”, Miralles said that if it had failed with the residents “it is because it has not been marketed correctly”.
With regard to the forthcoming elections for the Majorcan Federation of Hoteliers, after praising the work of Pere Cañellas (the current President), he asked for the hotel sector to speak with one voice, “to confirm our leadership in this new era which the sector is approaching”.

With regard to this, he said that the negotiation of the wage agreements for 2008 “is worrying” them.
Negotiations are usually tough and often involve strike threats.