Here we go again. The annual Blue Flags' song and dance. It's a story which is annually destined to occupy the front pages. That's only natural. For a society and an economy with the beach so close to their hearts, it's bound to, though once upon a time of course, there was no story. That was because there was no Blue Flag.
Matilde Asián, the national secretary-of-state for tourism, was able to glow in the spotlight of the number of flags fluttering on Spain's beaches. The Blue Flag, at the time of its inception thirty years ago, was ahead of its time. She was right. In the 1980s the world had still to wake up to the imperative of water quality. The world was still comparatively lazy and indifferent when it came to matters of the environment. The Blue Flag was a fantastic initiative.
Biel Barceló, the Balearic tourism minister, has said of the Blue Flag that tourists don't particularly value it. When he came out with this last year, he plunged the government into an argument with ADEAC, the organising association in Spain. There was talk of its legal people getting involved. The government was casting doubt on the Blue Flag and causing damage to it.
My reaction to Barceló was to thank God that someone had officially raised doubts about the Blue Flag. Let me be clear, the initiative does do an immense amount of good, but for a number of years it had been coming clear - to me at any rate - that it had gone way beyond its original purpose (that of water quality). It had started to carve out its own empire, adding ever more criteria and requirements.
At the same time, the general beachgoing public was far less indifferent to quality than it might once have been. Its environmental antennae had been alerted by the Blue Flag in its early years, but it was becoming ever more demanding, regardless of the Blue Flag. Sanitary conditions, good services, rescue facilities, etc., etc.: the public demanded them and expected them. Legislation, local regulations made sure that these demands and expectations were met. The Blue Flag was incidental.
Barceló said that tourists don't value the Blue Flag. In some parts of the globe, I suspect they do. That's because of parts of the world that have been playing catch-up on an environmental front. In the Balearics and Spain there have been laws both domestically and European which over many years have rectified many of the wrongs and which have made Spain a world leader for tourism. Yes, we hear about pollution in the Med, we do hear about the plastic that is washed up, we do hear about the occasional spillages of faecal water or about garbage floating. There isn't perfection, but where there is evidence, something is usually done, and if it isn't there is someone to take a photo or video and post it on social networks and scare local authorities into action.
What do tourists (or residents, come to that) take notice of? A Blue Flag? Be honest, do you? Are you in fact bothered about the various certifications for quality that numerous beaches have in Mallorca? Maybe you are. For the most part, I don't think people pay a great deal of attention. That's because quality is now taken as a given, and it comes about for all sorts of reasons, and generally speaking it is guaranteed, notwithstanding the occasional unfortunate incident. Barceló was right.
Far more notice is taken of what is knocking around the internet. If TripAdvisor reveals that such and such a beach is wonderful, then people will accept that it is. Recommendations are vastly more powerful than a flag. Likewise, if there are bad reviews, then a beach (and resort) may well suffer.
Playa de Muro's beach regularly attracts accolades. They come because of the excellent quality that is guaranteed in different ways. Yes, there is a Blue Flag but it is only one of several quality certifications. That it has been identified and praised by the Blue Flag organisers for its rescue service is even more reason for it to receive accolades. But the outstanding service which exists there is because the town hall (and business) have been so determined to push ever more the quality of the beach. The Blue Flag is nice but it isn't central and nor did it have anything to do with the creation of the medical emergency rapid response team at the beach.
The Blue Flags are an annual event. They are like the Oscars or Baftas without the gowns and bow ties. Or this at least is how they might wish to be perceived. The fact is that the annual ceremony passes many by, such as the municipalities who can't be bothered with the process. They have other means of demonstrating quality. Ahead of its time. Time has caught up.
Showing posts with label Blue flag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue flag. Show all posts
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Lowering The Blue Flag: Pollensa's beaches
Pollensa town hall has decided to spare its own blushes and to not apply for blue flags for its beaches this year. The reason for this decision is that the fiasco regarding its contracts (one contract in fact) for beach management last year meant that compliance with certain criteria was not as it should have been. The chances are that the flags, one of the four at any rate, that of Puerto Pollensa's main beach, would have been withdrawn. It was better, therefore, to make a pre-emptive strike and simply not apply.
The fact that Pollensa will not have blue flags following the next round of awards is going to be styled as town hall incompetence and as a major blow to the town's tourism. There is some justification for the incompetence charge, as Lord alone knows why Pollensa seems unique in being incapable of getting its beach management act sorted out. But incompetence or not, there is no reason at all to believe that the flags not flying will have any impact whatsoever on the town's tourism. And the reason for this is that there is precious little evidence as to the role blue flags play in influencing tourist decision-making.
The blue flag concept dates back to the mid-1980s. Originally a French idea, it spawned European Commission interest and support. An organisation, now called the Foundation for Environmental Education, was formed to oversee the programme, one that has since gone global.
The original French initiative had to do with water quality and sewage treatment. Thirty or so years ago, it was an important move. But things are very different nowadays. Regardless of blue flags, local authorities are far more in tune with the notion of environmental protection and cleanliness as they are with service provision, but the award of the blue flag has assumed a status by which it is believed that it is conspicuous by its absence from a beach. Believed to be, but is it really?
An informative study published a few years ago in the "Journal of Sustainable Tourism" discovered that labelling, such as the blue flag, only marginally influenced tourists' decisions. Indeed, tourists overwhelmingly didn't really understand what this labelling meant, and in the case of the blue flag it is understandable if today's tourist isn't entirely clear.
What started out as a necessary system to improve water quality has grown like topsy. The document which explains the criteria stretches to 34 pages and these criteria have long ceased to apply merely to sewage treatment. They cover everything from supply of drinking water, to wheelchair access, to personnel who prevent possible "conflicts" breaking out on beaches.
This is all good stuff you would think, but the blue-flag system has been consumed by its own self-importance and its consistent expansion to include aspects of beach existence that were never originally contemplated. Like other systems of quality, e.g. ISO standards, it has stopped being a means to an end (clean water and clean beaches) and become an end to a means. The process of compliance is more important than the end result, and it is a process that demands resources, time and money.
It is the fact that Pollensa knows that it would fall down on this process because of the contracts imbroglio which has led it to not apply this year. The town hall will cop some flak as a result, but I might be inclined, were I the town's mayor, to tell them to stick their blue flags. He wouldn't of course, because, as with any other town with beach resorts, he knows that he and his administration are expected to go through hoops on an annual basis that are now a bureaucratic, tyrannical imposition, non-compliance with which amounts to being named and shamed as not being blue-flagged.
An assumption that will be made, and this is why the blue-flag system is falling into potential disrepute, is that waters off Pollensa's beaches are somehow unsafe. But this is not why the town hall is not applying. It's not the water (the original motivation behind the blue flag) but the beaches themselves, or rather whether they had the right shower facilities or not. In fact, whether one of the four beaches did or not. But the assumption may well be made, as most people would believe that the original notion is still all that counts.
The good news, though, is that this assumption will be made by only a few. And this is because of the marginal influence that systems such as the blue flag have. Pollensa is not about to be affected negatively by not flying the flag, and were the town hall to in future thumb its nose at the whole blue-flag system, I, for one, would applaud it.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The fact that Pollensa will not have blue flags following the next round of awards is going to be styled as town hall incompetence and as a major blow to the town's tourism. There is some justification for the incompetence charge, as Lord alone knows why Pollensa seems unique in being incapable of getting its beach management act sorted out. But incompetence or not, there is no reason at all to believe that the flags not flying will have any impact whatsoever on the town's tourism. And the reason for this is that there is precious little evidence as to the role blue flags play in influencing tourist decision-making.
The blue flag concept dates back to the mid-1980s. Originally a French idea, it spawned European Commission interest and support. An organisation, now called the Foundation for Environmental Education, was formed to oversee the programme, one that has since gone global.
The original French initiative had to do with water quality and sewage treatment. Thirty or so years ago, it was an important move. But things are very different nowadays. Regardless of blue flags, local authorities are far more in tune with the notion of environmental protection and cleanliness as they are with service provision, but the award of the blue flag has assumed a status by which it is believed that it is conspicuous by its absence from a beach. Believed to be, but is it really?
An informative study published a few years ago in the "Journal of Sustainable Tourism" discovered that labelling, such as the blue flag, only marginally influenced tourists' decisions. Indeed, tourists overwhelmingly didn't really understand what this labelling meant, and in the case of the blue flag it is understandable if today's tourist isn't entirely clear.
What started out as a necessary system to improve water quality has grown like topsy. The document which explains the criteria stretches to 34 pages and these criteria have long ceased to apply merely to sewage treatment. They cover everything from supply of drinking water, to wheelchair access, to personnel who prevent possible "conflicts" breaking out on beaches.
This is all good stuff you would think, but the blue-flag system has been consumed by its own self-importance and its consistent expansion to include aspects of beach existence that were never originally contemplated. Like other systems of quality, e.g. ISO standards, it has stopped being a means to an end (clean water and clean beaches) and become an end to a means. The process of compliance is more important than the end result, and it is a process that demands resources, time and money.
It is the fact that Pollensa knows that it would fall down on this process because of the contracts imbroglio which has led it to not apply this year. The town hall will cop some flak as a result, but I might be inclined, were I the town's mayor, to tell them to stick their blue flags. He wouldn't of course, because, as with any other town with beach resorts, he knows that he and his administration are expected to go through hoops on an annual basis that are now a bureaucratic, tyrannical imposition, non-compliance with which amounts to being named and shamed as not being blue-flagged.
An assumption that will be made, and this is why the blue-flag system is falling into potential disrepute, is that waters off Pollensa's beaches are somehow unsafe. But this is not why the town hall is not applying. It's not the water (the original motivation behind the blue flag) but the beaches themselves, or rather whether they had the right shower facilities or not. In fact, whether one of the four beaches did or not. But the assumption may well be made, as most people would believe that the original notion is still all that counts.
The good news, though, is that this assumption will be made by only a few. And this is because of the marginal influence that systems such as the blue flag have. Pollensa is not about to be affected negatively by not flying the flag, and were the town hall to in future thumb its nose at the whole blue-flag system, I, for one, would applaud it.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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