Mallorca in Berlin Taxi!

Fundacion Mallorca Turisme (FMT) will be present at the Balearic Islands section at ITB Berlin from March 7 to 9 ­ a major event for the island given the importance of the German tourism market.

With all predictions suggesting that this will be a fantastic summer, the timing was perfect for the FMT to travel to Berlin for the first in­person edition of the fair since Covid.

Several towns and cities will have their own stands within the Mallorca section, including Palma, Calvia, Pollensa, Son Servera, San Lorenzo, Alcudia, Llucmajor, Manacor and Capdepera.

As well as promoting the new flight connections with the USA and Portugal, the

Mallorca delegation will organise a special event featuring the main cultural and gastronomic elements of the island.

‘Mallorca, 365 days of culinary delights’ will offer visitors the chance to experience a traditional island festivity, with local chefs cooking typical dishes and serving a selection of the area’s best wines. More than 150 people have already booked to take part in the event, with numbers growing daily.

The tourism department has scheduled a packed di­ ary of meetings with all the major international tourism operators, agents and media outlets to discuss all the different elements that make Mallorca a “sustainable, diverse, competitive and quality” tourist destination, according to the FMT. One of the main points of interest this year will be the booming local audiovisual sector, which is gradually growing in importance for the area’s cultural scene, economy and labour market, as well as being a great advertising outlet for the island.

TAXI drivers in Mallorca are confident that an increase in rental cars this summer will help alleviate the service and prevent last year’s congestion problems. According to Mallorca Taxi Association president Biel Moragues, this year will “be nothing like 2022,” when drivers were unable to cope with the huge demand from holidaymakers.

Somewhat ironically, as it effectively means less business for taxi drivers, plans to increase the rental fleet on the island over the coming months are being welcomed by the association. However, Sr Moragues is critical of the local and regional authorities, whom he claims have failed to take into account requests by the association to improve the service. Among their suggestions was the creation of a unified mobile phone app to connect customers with the whole fleet operating on the island, which they believe would streamline the booking process and make it more efficient, but which was reportedly ignored by the Govern and the town hall.

According to Sr Moragues, more than one third of Palma’s 1,200 taxis do not have a communication system with users, leaving them at a disadvantage with regards to other vehicles while others are unable to cope with the huge demand.

A unified booking system would solve this issue, the association president believes.