Three major tourist hotspots in Spain could lose many more UK visitors following this summer’s anti-tourism protests, new data shows.
This year’s tourism statistics were published on Monday and sparked a debate after revealing a 10 percent year-on-year drop in UK visitors to the Balearics.
Some speculate this decline is directly linked to recent protests, or indeed the media portrayal of these events, but it is not clear.
It was before these numbers came out when the Balearic government’s AETIB tourism strategy agency began working with Lotus, their UK communications agency, on a campaign aimed at counteracting any potential backlash in light of the anti-mass tourism demonstrations that have been staged on the islands this spring and summer.
This prompted a series of messages assuring that tourists are valued and welcomed warmly, amid fears of “tourismphobia”.
Although the tourism chiefs in the Balearics have embraced this positive promotion initiative, not everyone’s convinced of its impact.
Reservations were voiced from a holiday rentals insider, who said: “No matter how much they tell them that everything is fine, if potential visitors see an image on television with a slogan saying kill a tourist, they will think twice.”
AETIB has also been liaising with its PR agency in Germany, GCE. The same messages have been dispatched to the German media and tour operators.
However, the July tourist figures from Germany painted a different picture than that of the UK – with a 12 percent increase in tourist numbers.
Among smaller markets than the UK and Germany, France saw a surge of 22 percent, while Italy experienced an 11 percent drop. The Spanish market dipped by 13 percent, but overall foreign tourism witnessed a rise of 4.3 percent.
It comes after furious locals protesting against too many tourists in a northwestern Spanish village ended up causing a huge traffic jam after blocking a zebra crossing this week.
The protest in the Spanish village of O Hío is the latest holiday destination to see an anti-tourism demonstration in light of a summer of similar events held across Spain.
As in most cities where demonstrations have taken place, residents say that they are not against tourism in general, but want authorities to take more action to lessen the industry’s impact on their daily lives.