Bauzá - World Tourism Leader

A good deal of publicity was given to the visit of Taleb Rifai, the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), to Palma the other day. While a headlining aspect of his visit was his declaration of opposition to taxes levied on tourists (and not solely a possible tourist tax), he also took the opportunity to praise the efforts of the Balearic Government. Its "model" of tourism was along the lines of that promoted by the WTO. Jordanian Rifai is presumably not barred from political statements, but his comments in favour of the government had a barely disguised political element. As head of a United Nations organisation, should he, though, be quite so open?

The WTO, it should be noted, has its headquarters in Madrid. Is it a body that has become too close, therefore, to the Spanish political set-up and so to the Partido Popular in particular? Perhaps, given its location, this is inevitable, but the politicised nature of his comments in Palma was transparent, especially when he said - words to this effect - that Bauzá should be considered to be a world leader in tourism. With elections only a couple of weeks away, his praise seemed disproportionately effusive.

This is not, however, to disparage some of the good work that the government has done, but how much credit should Bauzá take for it? Disliked though he was by many, the architect of this tourism leadership was that of one of the forgotten men of the current legislature, Carlos Delgado.

Meanwhile, and with the elections now almost upon us, business associations in Mallorca and the Balearics have been setting out their "manifestos" for the next government. The hoteliers' federation in Mallorca has three principal objectives: guaranteeing legal certainty for businesses, investors and destinations; boosting competitiveness through cost reduction; and ensuring the participation of tourism business in decision-making. In other words, it is telling parties other than the PP to not reverse measures that have enabled investment, to not crank up taxes and to not exclude its wishes from any future legislation.

The hoteliers' groups from the different islands are united in their opposition to a tourist tax, but not all the associations are dead against it. Pepe Tirado for Acotur, the tourist businesses' association, said that a tax of between one and two euros a day would be reasonable, a "good formula" for raising revenues to be directed towards natural resources and tourism infrastructure.

Will there be a tax? Much will depend on how the elections go. But for some, a Mallorcan president, be he (or she) Bauzá or someone else, will no longer be a world leader if there is a tax.