This will be an unprecedented summer for the tourism of Ibiza. The Balearic Islands will not expect any touristic activities during May, June or July due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
This frightening news arrives after the release of an official study prepared by the Balearic Government’s Department of Labour. They managed to put figures on the economic debacle that is looming on the islands due to the coronavirus. According to an intermediate scenario, the consequences of tourism will be devastating for the whole archipelago.
On a slightly brighter note, in August the activity could start “minimally”. Iago Negueruela, who estimated the influx of visitors, expected 25% of those who arrived last year will return throughout August.
As a result of this- and due to the unprecedented slowdown in business investment, tourist arrivals, and consumption- the Balearic GDP will fall by 31.6% over the year as a whole, representing more than 9,200 million euros. This shows the significant economic impact cause by the Covid-19 virus.
Plenty of Jobs are on Stake
In addition, a total of 147,000 jobs are expected to be destroyed on the four islands. Although the Government does not yet have figures broken down by islands, the Minister did admit that the severity of these effects will be even greater in places where tourism is key like Ibiza or Formentera.
This is devastating news for an island that mainly lives on tourism. Some of the iconic clubs like Ushuaia or Hï Ibiza are gathering in virtual events to collect money to fight the pandemic.
The Minister continued that 18,000 Temporary Employment Regulation (TER) cases have been filed in the Balearic Islands. 44,000 permanent and discontinuous employees are also part of these files.
Unfortunately, the season is expecting indefinite delays and that the tour operators are moving the dates as the days of confinement are increasing,
There are countries like the United Kingdom that have taken too long to adopt containment measures and that also puts us in a different situation with respect to them
Iago Negueruela, Conseller
We hope that this pandemic comes to an end soon and the famous islands recover from this. Ibiza gathers thousands of party-goers in the prestigious clubs of the city. The tourism will reduce this year on the White Island, but it will come back stronger than ever.