Juan Miguel Costa comes to the interview in a jovial mood. The day before, the Hotel Federation announced the occupancy data for the month of July and they are better than expected. The island director of Tourism of the Consell conveys caution within the optimism, but it is clear that it has removed a huge burden from his shoulders.
The island director of Tourism poses on the fifth floor of the Consell’s headquarters. Toni Escobar
First of all, the classic question: how is the season going?
Within the current situation, it is going well. When we promoted the ‘Ibiza Reinicia’ plan at the end of last year, we proposed three scenarios: a pessimistic one, a conservative one and an optimistic one, and I think we are in the optimistic scenario. We’ll see when the season ends and we recap the data, but now the feelings are good. There were days when it seemed that things were in danger, but we were able to save it and now there is a lot of optimism.
The Hotel Federation has reported that the occupancy rate for the month of July has been 70%. Was that in your calculations?
They are very good figures, but keep in mind that it is not a real 70% because only 75% of the total hotel capacity is open. Even so, the figures are very good and three months ago they would have been unthinkable.
“Nightlife has made us known throughout the world, but we have other attractions” “The hotel occupancy data three months ago would have been unthinkable”
Can we say that we have saved the season?
We can say that we have survived. The situation is complicated, there was a lot of uncertainty but now we are making a profit. At least we will survive.
When the UK took the islands out of the green light status, did you think that the summer would go awry?
It was the most critical moment. When our neighbours in Mallorca and Menorca had skyrocketing positive covid cases, we knew that this could also happen in Ibiza and Formentera, as it did. With the British government’s announcements you never know what you’re going to find, but when they removed us from the joint traffic light system with the mainland they gave us lifeline, and when it was confirmed that they were maintaining lax restrictions they guaranteed us that the season would continue.
What messages are you getting from business owners in the sector?
The hotel sector has had the great obstacle of not being able to plan. The first concern was to start the season, and then consolidate it. Now we are in the third phase, which is to extend it as much as possible. I am told that September bookings are being activated, although everything is going very last minute.
“Eradicating illegal renting is very complicated, but we are trying to dissuade” “We will return to a normality similar to the one we had before covid”
These good results have been achieved with nightlife closed. Is it possible to live without discotheques?
I think that living without discotheques in Ibiza is complicated because they form part of the culture and because thanks to them people know us as a tourist brand all over the world. What is clear is that not everything is nightlife in Ibiza, and this is something that the Consell has worked on over the years. There are not only nightclubs, but there are also a series of attractive products for everyone who visits us. Gastronomy is at a very high point on the island, family tourism is coming more than ever. All these variants allow us to be optimistic about the future.
Has Ibiza been too dependent on nightlife? Do you think it has played too much of a leading role?
Years ago it was said that the tourist season started when the nightclubs opened and ended on the closing weekend. This has now been reversed. We have managed to have connectivity in the month of April, sports tourism helps us to extend the season. The idea is to take pressure off the central summer months and increase visits at the beginning and end.
“We should not depend on any particular market, we must diversify”
The drop in British tourism has been offset by the rise in other markets. Is there also a change in our relationship with the British market?
The data we have on the table are not those of a usual season, we will see which trends are consolidated and which are not. What we did have very clear is that, given the circumstances, domestic tourism would be paramount both this year and last year. And together with this market, we have also had pleasant surprises with the Swiss market, the Dutch – who already came a lot, but this year has increased, and the French. Not being so dependent on the British or on any specific market is the way forward.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.