Balearic Islands Mallorca and Ibiza set to be first holiday destination in Spain where German tour operator TUI resumes operations

THE Balearic Islands are set to be the first destination in Spain where German tour operator TUI resumes operations.

The TUI Group has agreed to work with the Balearic government on setting out a calendar which allows tourist flows between Germany and the islands to start up again once the lockdown de-escalation is over and the coronavirus health crisis has been overcome.

TUI senior executives met with Balearic Economic Model, Tourism and Employment regional minister, Iago Negueruela and the islands’ Director General of Tourism, Rosana Morillo, via videoconference on Tuesday. They agreed the islands will be the tour operator’s first focus in Spain for a resumption of activities, albeit with strict health and safety procedures in place.

Both the regional administration and TUI have been working for weeks on security protocols that will allow the resumption of tourist activity in optimal conditions, and with this agreement join forces on restarting the activity as soon as possible.

TUI’s CEO of its hotel, cruise and destination division, Sebastian Ebel, and the company’s Executive Committee member, Thomas Ellerbeck, took part in the meeting. They have been assessing the current situation created by the pandemic and how it may affect tourism demand in the future.

The Tourism regional minister told the TUI leaders there was a need to work together on how the destination will reopen and receive tourists from Germany as safely as possible. Negueruela assured the tour operator that the regional government has been working from the outset so that “the Balearic Islands continue to be a reference point and an example of a safe destination in Spain and Europe.”

He said action protocols will be developed and plans to ensure that the Balearic tourism industry can reopen with the highest level of safety.