Menorca has presented itself as a pioneering destination in sustainability at the 4th Convention of the Spanish Tourism Institute (Turespaña), which is being held until Thursday, 3rd October, with a programme entitled ‘Everything changes again: emerging technologies for a new tourism model’.

The President of the Consell Insular de Menorca, Adolfo Vilafranca, took part in the round table discussion ‘New tourism strategies’, moderated by the Director General of Turespaña, Miguel Sanz, and the Director General of Tourism Policies of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, Ana Muñoz.

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Menorca presents itself as a pioneer destination in sustainability at the Turespaña convention

Also taking part in the round table were the Minister of Tourism, Trade and Consumer Affairs of the Basque Country, Javier Hurtado; the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Trade and Sports of the Community of Madrid, Luis Martín; the Regional Secretary of Tourism of the Generalitat Valenciana, José Manuel Camarero, and the Minister of Enterprise and Employment of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Miquel Samper.

During the convention, Vilafranca said that Menorca committed to sustainability more than 30 years ago. ‘We want to combine the protection of the territory with economic development. We have 68% of the territory protected, and this has allowed us to conserve the landscape exceptionally compared to other territories. One of the tools created for this is the Island Territorial Plan, which is a regulation that has made it possible to separate the traditional nuclei from the tourist areas. We want to avoid the mixing of tourist and residential housing and to increase the quality of tourist housing. And we are encouraging the renovation of the hotel industry because it is essential to attract higher quality tourism,’ added Vilafranca.

To make progress in sustainability, the president of the Consell Insular explained how the island has a consolidated tourist season of five months, but that the aim is for it to be nine months. ‘Our strategy involves promoting all the activities we have available out of season, such as culture, sport and gastronomy. We have three main international markets: firstly, the British market, where British tourism interest in culture has grown by 13 points. Then the French market, which is by far the fastest growing. We do not promote sun and sand. French tourists are looking for experiences and gastronomy. And then we have the Italian visitor, where we believe we can increase the number of months in which they can come to Menorca’, said Vilafranca.

As a present and future strategy, the president of Consell Insular has assured that improving connectivity in the low season is essential for residents and visitors. ‘This winter we will be linked by a direct route to Zaragoza, Paris and London. We would be interested in finding a connection with the south of Spain, as this would help us to attract American tourism, which has high purchasing power,’ Vilafranca concluded.