The global visitor economy and resilience challenge: Mallorcas destination resurgence in perspective

Global tourism has been hard hit by the travel restrictions and border closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. A June 2021 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, jointly presented with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), stated that international tourism and its closely linked sectors in the visitor economy suffered an estimated loss of US$2.4 trillion in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, due to direct and indirect impacts of a steep drop in international tourist arrivals. UNWTO scenarios indicate that international tourist arrivals could grow by 30 percent to 78 percent in 2022 compared to 2021. This would still be 50 percent to 63 percent below pre-pandemic levels. What post-COVID-19 tourism will look like, however, is another matter. Many popular destinations had been suffering under the weight of 'overtourism', impacting local environments and quality of life, while also causing economic leakage to external businesses. There have been efforts to encourage more sustainable and resilient forms of tourism as countries begin to slowly recover from COVID-19. A key example of this is Mallorca, a popular mass tourism destination which was being overwhelmed by visitors and was moving towards more high value and low impact forms of tourism. The pandemic accelerated these sustainable tourism initiatives and the Mallorcan response can serve as a useful case study for destinations trying to evolve and become more resilient in response to socio-economic, environmental and cultural challenges.