Majorca hotels in U-turn as they plan to welcome back tourists as early as July – but Germans invited before the Brits
MAJORCA hotel owners who feared a tourist wipe-out this summer have made a massive U-turn.
Holidaymakers are now set to return to the Spanish island as early as July, but Brits will have to wait a bit longer than Germans.
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Visitors from the likes of Germany and Austria will be first before the welcome is extended to the UK.
The Association of Hotel Chains (ACH) and the Hotel Business Federation of Majorca (FEHM) says this is their new objective following close talks and agreements with the German tourist groups TUI, Alltours, FTI and Schauinsland, as well as with the British TUI UK and Jet2.
ACH president Gabriel Llobera has told the Spanish press: "The objective is to be able to open the hotels in stages and whenever the demand justifies the business effort.
"The interest is mutual in all the parties involved because both we and the tour operators are ready to reactivate the tourist activity once the whole process of de-escalation by the coronavirus has passed."
It was feared that Spanish tourist hubs could miss out on an entire summer of revenue, but now the first tourists will come from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Denmark.
But if talks with the British groups progress and the travel ban is lifted, the UK could be next on the list and much earlier than anticipated.
At the moment, Spain is in phase zero of its de-escalation plan but the second stage, beginning on May 11, will allow the opening of hotels with limits, including zoned off "common areas" which still has to be clarified.
The terraces of bars and restaurants will also be able to open with 50 per cent capacity and then, in June, the interiors - but again only half full.
Hoteliers in both Majorca and Ibiza have been saying they would not open under these conditions as local and national tourism only would not make it feasible.
However, Majorca has been locked in talks with Germany to bring back at least one big portion of the international market which appears to have given hotels a more positive outlook.
They say they will need to know the level of reservations in advance in order to gauge what hotels should open and to what capacity.
Spain's airports and ports are not yet fully open and the Spanish Government has yet to indicate when this might happen.
The hoteliers in Mallorca say stringent health checks will be needed before and during travel.
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According to Ultimahora.es, the groups of these European countries are officially requesting the reopening of Palma airport to international traffic under specified conditions.
It is expected that rapid coronavirus tests will be carried out in the days prior to the trip in the cities of origin of tourists.
There will be major sanitary controls at airports and all tourists will have to travel wearing a mask on planes, during their travel in the airport terminal and buses that will take them to hotels.