“We must never forget that we have always been gracious and make an effort to address grievances.”
Javier Vich, president of the Palma Hotel Association and CEO of the SumaM Hotel Group, acknowledged he was concerned about the impact reports of protests against overcrowding could have on the tourism market.
He himself says he won’t go to places where he perceives there to be hostility towards tourists.
“It is very hard to create a tourist destination, but very easy to destroy it. The main problems here are a lack of housing, roads, parking, sewage treatment plants and the supply of illegal holiday rentals. Population growth is a key factor so it cannot be left out of the discussion. Now that discontent has been expressed in the streets, we must work to address it, never forgetting that we have always been hospitable.”
“We have guests asking at the reception what’s going on in town, especially with the most sensational reports hitting the headlines every day. We certainly have a problem. Ten years ago the hotel industry said we couldn’t get any bigger. Now the responsibility is on all of us to say where we want to go, but we have to do so responsibly.”
Vich rejects the idea that “quality tourists” are those who spend the most: “Quality tourists means polite people. Customers at three-star hotels are polite and are quality tourists, whether they spend money or not.”
He supports President Prohens’ sustainable tourism pact: “I commend the government because this is a very good initiative and could be the start of a global strategy.”
For now, he says, despite the concerns, Parma’s season is going very well. “Bookings are about on par with 2023, a little more in fact. There’s nothing that makes us think this year won’t be the same or better than 2023. Parma has managed to extend its season with good activity levels for 10 months of the year. November is going well, now we just need to work to make December and January more attractive. From February onwards, we’re gaining traction without any problems.”
