Jane Jones, a Global Travel homeworker who recently left her assistant manager role at Hays Travel, revealed that, in the last few months, she had "a handful" of customers that were scared about getting attacked by protestors in destinations such as Tenerife.
"[To reassure anxious clients] we spoke to customers who had just been there and they told us they didn’t have any issues," Jones added. "All of those who were scared decided to go in the end."
Pole Travel manager Jill Waite said several customers, mainly elderly ones, have mentioned last year’s protests in recent weeks.
“I haven’t had anybody who has come back from Spain complain and nothing untoward has happened to my clients, so to me that means everything’s fine,” she said, adding: "Once we reassured them, they were happy to go."
It comes after Steve Heapy, chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, confirmed customers were anxious they were no longer welcome in Spain.
Speaking on a panel at the Spanish embassy in London last week, he said: “We’ve had people ringing the call centre and going into travel agents, asking questions like ‘is Spain safe’, ‘are we still welcome in the resort’.” He continued: “It is becoming a big issue unfortunately, and perception becomes truth.”
Henbury Travel boss Richard Slater explained how customers who booked through a travel agent held an advantage over those who booked directly with a tour operator.
"Travel agents can reassure customers because we give them quality information and we help them make informed decisions," said Slater.
He revealed how Henbury Travel customers would often feel more comfortable about visiting Spain once they understood local residents’ frustrations were not directed at them.
“We explain protests are aimed at [short-term let] platforms like Airbnb – landlords tend to kick locals out of properties in favour of quick [money] on Airbnb,” he said.
Slater agreed with Heapy, who called for stricter laws on “unlicensed tourism” platforms at the Spanish embassy event. “Airbnb can be controlled. They don’t rule the world,” Heapy said. “They are an online platform and we can control and put legislation in place.”
Mateu Hernandez, director general of Turisme de Barcelona, told TTG in April: “We are proud of British citizens visiting Barcelona and we invite them to come for the music, the sport, the art and the gastronomy – and then stay for the rest, which is the Barcelona way of life."
Barcelona is one destination in Spain which is adopting a "less is more" approach to tourism. Hernandez highlighted how the destination marketing organisation recently changed its slogan from "Visit Barcelona" to "This is Barcelona" to signify a more cautious approach to tourism.
Do you have clients who are nervous about travelling to Spain this summer? We want to hear from you. Please email igrassomacola@ttgmedia.com with your stories.
