Boris Johnson’s government has the tourism sector on tenterhooks. With each announcement, the possibility of British tourism on the islands this summer slips farther away, at least from the UK. Boris Johnson confirmed yesterday that the final phase of the de-escalation in this region would be postponed from June 21th to July 19th. The prime minister claims that the aim is to avoid a third wave of covid and has dashed the hopes of recovery next month for the second largest outbound Balearic market. “The expectations of the tourist industry have been shattered,” declared the Mallorcan hotel employers association yesterday.
Four weeks delay, from June 21th to July 19th. That is the new date, who knows if it will be the last, announced by Johnson for reaching the final phase of his deconfinement plan in England, the most populated country in the UK, with 56 out of 67 million inhabitants. The reason given is fear of the Delta (Indian) variant of the coronavirus, which is dominant in the United Kingdom. From his official office in London’s Downing Street, the prime minister said it was “sensible (…) to take our foot off the accelerator” to give more time for the vaccination plan to make progress, which aims to have offered a first dose to all adults by the end of next month.
For the executive vice-president of the Mallorca Hotel Federation (FEHM), María José Aguiló, this “new delay” from London puts the probable start of the season for this market at the beginning of August, “which was predictable, shatters the expectations of the tourism industry, both ours and that of the United Kingdom and makes holidays difficult for another month”.For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.