Mark Cavendish - part of Mallorca's promotional effort. | Archive

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The World Travel Market (WTM) in London, one of the "big three" European tourism fairs, is being held from today (Monday) until Wednesday. For the Balearics, the fair is of great importance, as the islands seek to recoup British tourism lost during the pandemic, return to the number of tourists pre-pandemic* and to also promote active tourism as a key element in addressing seasonality.

For Mallorca, the strategy is clear. "Mallorca, a year round training ground" is the slogan for a promotional push to capture British sports tourism for the whole year and tackle seasonality. Among those who will be helping to get the message across is one of the greatest road cycling sprinters of all time, Mark Cavendish.

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The Council of Mallorca's councillor for tourism, Andreu Serra, says that sports products - cycling, hiking, golf, nautical - have added value in that they are key to reducing the impact of seasonality and, at the same time, creating their own "high season". "We want to become the headquarters of European active tourism. This will allow us to lengthen the season to the fullest."

For the Balearic tourism minister, Iago Negueruela, WTM allows the islands to show all they offer. "We are going to the London fair with the intention of returning to the numbers of British tourists before the pandemic. It is the market that has suffered the most because of the restrictions."

* In 2019, 3,748,976 British tourists came to the Balearics. In Mallorca specifically, there were 2,430,087 British tourists.