Ibiza Sun - Special features

Special Feature:

IBIZA CONECTIVIDAD

On Friday 27 January the newly formed pressure group "Ibiza Conectividad" which is campaigning for the reinstatement of international winter flights was asked to participate in a presentation given at the Club Diario de Ibiza by a similar group from Menorca who are campaigning for a much lower flat rate for inter-island flights regardless of residency.
Although the objectives of the 2 groups are different the underlying sentiment is the lack of connections for the smaller Balearic Islands with Mallorca receiving the majority of funding even though their requirements are much less due to their position as a major gateway and year round destination. Each of the Balearic Islands have their own unique needs during the winter months with Menorca having very few daily national flights and Ibiza having a lack of direct international connections so both groups found plenty of common ground.
The meeting was attended by politicians Sofia Hernanz (PSOE) Member of Congress in Madrid, Carmen Ferrer (PP) Island Councillor for Tourism, Vicent Roig (PP) Island Councillor for Industry and Juanjo Riera, head of the Hotel Federation for Ibiza and Formentera. Also in attendance were Joan Serra, the director of the Diario de Ibiza, and Maria Carmen Munoa from the San Antonio Residents Association. The event was covered for TV courtesy of the Balearic channel IB3 who broadcast during the press conference and interviewed several people afterwards.
Ibiza Conectividad was represented on the podium by Sant Mateu resident Billy Barry who outlined the pressure group"s objectives and their belief that the decision to withdraw the co-marketing agreement with a low cost airline did not make sense on economic grounds and that it isolated the island during the winter months. He also detailed the local government"s muddled thinking in spending in excess of 1.1 million euros on the advertising campaign "Ibiza Slow Breaks" only to suspend it because of a lack of winter flights. The co-marketing agreement for winter flights was in the region of 400.000 euros per year. He also spoke directly to the politicians saying that after all the recent bad press for the Balearics (referring to the Matas trial) the group sincerely hoped the new generation of politicians would have Ibiza"s best interests at heart.
The conference was well received by all and Ibiza Conectividad Spokesman Martin Makepeace said "this was a launch pad for our objectives to be heard and it was a good way to get all the major players into a room at the same time. We will be holding another press conference in the very near future for the islands residents so they can show their support for this very serious matter".
www.ibizawinterflights.com
ibizaflights@hotmail.com