The Balearic Island capital, Palma, has recently outlined its tourism strategy to create a year-round and sustainable tourism destination.
Under the slogan ‘Passion for Palma’, the tourism strategy focuses on developing a sustainable year-round tourism model centred on key themes such as culture, shopping and art, which benefits local communities.
The main objective of the tourism strategy is to raise awareness of Palma’s lesser-known tourist attractions and promote the city’s cultural and historic heritage, with the aim of helping tourists discover the authentic side of Palma and to increase visitation numbers during the winter months.
During the October 2017- April 2018 winter period the city of Palma welcomed a 6.5% increase in overnight stays from the UK.
Tourist board Palma 365 has launched four specific tourism initiatives including the implementation of new bus stops created to reduce overcrowding in the main tourist areas in the city and new signage and tourism routes for spring/summer 2019 to showcase points of interest outside of the main city and to encourage visitation to lesser-known areas.
This month, the tourist board will introduce a new app called Welcome Palma, which will feature live heat sensors designed to show tourists which areas of the city are crowded and to suggest alternative places to visit based on preferences such as culture, shopping, gastronomy, history and art.
The app will also have a live chat function for tourists to ask questions about where to go and how to avoid crowds.
In addition, Palma has launched a new catalogue detailing traditional arts and crafts such as ceramics, glass-making and shoe-making.
Pedro Homar, General Director of Palma 365 said: "Our tourism strategy aims to achieve a sustainable tourism model, which will benefit both locals and visitors alike, and will propel Palma to the top of the list of desirable year-round city-break destinations from the UK.
"We anticipate that initiatives such as the new bus stops and the Welcome Palma app will diffuse tourism across the city and will encourage tourists to visit the lesser-known sites in the city. We also believe that the new catalogue and the introduction of new tourist routes will raise awareness of Palma’s cultural heritage.
"We will continue to work closely with our partners to promote the authentic side of Palma and to position the city as a leading year-round tourist destination in Europe".
