Don't burst the balloon!
We all know that Mallorca is a huge tourist destination but it is also home to thousands of locals, from many nationalities. As the first full post pandemic season closes, the island gets to breathe again and starts its recovery from the intensity of a summer of mass tourism.
It’s not hard to understand why people in their millions flock to Mallorca, it is very, very beautiful and there are places that simply take your breath away. That beauty is lessened when you can’t get near the stunning beaches, queues of cars lining the side of roads with people desperate to get to that idyllic Cala, markets swamped with people being herded through narrow streets so that you miss the wonderful local produce and on the corners of streets are piles of plastic destined for who knows where.
Much has been written about the impact of mass tourism and without a doubt there is a fine line between balancing jobs, livelihoods and environmental impact whilst keeping the Mallorcan economy alive. We live in a world, where despite all the narrative around sustainability the tourism euro, pound and now US dollar spent in Mallorca shouts louder. Once you have created a certain type of tourism model it is very hard to abandon it, but there is no doubt that Mallorca needs a tourism reset, it simply cannot keep growing.
We have an opportunity to change, to remove the intensity of the summer months and look to a model that recognises tourism of all the seasons. That doesn’t mean abandoning the holiday makers of the summer, there is nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy the beach, have your feet in the sand enjoying a paella and a glass or two but on a sunny Autumn day that experience can be just as beautiful.
As a tourism magazine, promoting places to go is what we do, but we like to think we have a strong message around sustainable tourism. Our passions, the places and people we feature have recognised the complicated issues of saturated tourism. They have hit the reset button as they think about their own impact on Mallorca. Take a look at the amazing work Kerry is doing at boaplanet. They are taking the thrown away inflatables of the summer and turning them into new products. What a creative response to the impact of mass summer tourism.
Let's not be that party balloon… you know the one… you can’t help that one extra blow but then bang it's all over. Mallorca and its people are too precious to see it all slip away with the last sangria, waving farewell for another year.
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