Essentially Mallorca, the association that represents companies in the luxury segment, is working with the government's AETIB tourism strategy agency on positioning the island in what is a generally increasing market. Despite the competitive level of Mallorca and the Balearics, direct rivals in the luxury segment, such as Marbella, surpass the islands in terms of tourist intelligence and studies.
The first step is a study of the economic impact of the luxury segment on Mallorca's tourism. At the same time, the use of big data is crucial for maximising the strengths of Mallorca and the Balearics and for minimising weaknesses. The association says that this is something which has yet to be done in the Balearics and is an example of where other destinations are "years ahead".
According to the Tourism Competitiveness Index compiled by the Fundació Impulsa in the Balearics, the islands rate highly when it comes to issues such as health and safety, the social prioritisation of tourism, air and sea connections, infrastructure and natural resources. But there are severe competitive deficiencies in respect of administrative facilitation of businesses, technological integration, territorial planning, human capital and the labour market.
From Impulsa big data for 315 European regions, Essentially Mallorca points to three destinations in the Mediterranean that currently rank as the island's main competitors in the luxury segment: Marbella, Mykonos and Tuscany.
Despite being natural competitors, the association leaves out the Algarve and Antalya with better index rankings in terms of prices. When it comes to the objectives of the Balearics, the association does not necessarily consider that cheaper prices in these two destinations is a negative. "What we intend is to stop a dependence on low-cost tourism."
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Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyWhile I agree with all you've said here, I don't think anyone is really thinking of swapping one for another. Nothing is that easy, and even if it were the endgame, it would likely take decades., so I don't think there's an immediate threat. The mantra is about upgrading. Focus on quality rather than quantity. Deliver a quality product and those seeking it will (eventually) come. Word gets around. Sure, there will always be those who only consider price (and they are actually in the minority), but they're also accustomed to a lower quality product, and if they don't find it here, they'll go elsewhere. And that really won't have any measurable impact. Currently Mallorca has a real opportunity to up its game in big ways. If it doesn't leverage that opportunity, it may well be left behind. It's already upped it's game rather visibly, but it needs to do much more... And I think that's what this is about. Think tomorrow, not yesterday.
Just building posh expensive hotels isn’t the answer Look at the location of the Porto Soller picture. It not the typical Majorca sad budget resort , is it.
"What we intend is to stop a dependence on low-cost tourism." Be very careful. It's mass tourism that currently supports a very large percentage of Mallorquins and their families. Luxury tourism is a minority employer so swopping one for the other will inevitably lead to higher rates of unemployment, small firm closures and retail bankruptcies. However, the two strategies can live in harmony and examples of this abound around Europe (Paris, Nice, London, Rome to name just a few). The trick is how to create the necessary platform for both polar opposites of the tourism market to work together.