Speaking at the Jet2holidays conference in Paphos, Heapy stressed he did not believe the demonstrations seen in Majorca, Ibiza and other Spanish destinations such as Barcelona, as well as other European cities, were aimed at traditional package holiday tourists.
"[They are protesting] incompetent and impotent governments that have failed to regulate unlicensed tourism," said Heapy. "They’re not stupid, they know tourism generates income for the economy, and tourism’s been around for decades – licensed tourism.
"We operate licensed tourism. We send people to hotels. It’s easy to work out how many people there will be. And that model has worked very well for decades. You could predict what the demand for tourism would be."
Heapy said the short-term rental market had made this more difficult, resulting in a "massive increase" in tourists travelling to destinations not ready for such a significant influx, placing strain on local infrastructure and amenities, and communities themselves.
The Jet2 chief executive also questioned the safety of some of these rentals, calling them potential "deathtraps". "When we put a hotel on sale, we have to see its tourism licence," he said.
"We have to get it health and safety checked – every one of our hotels has to have a health and safety audit. These hotels are licensed businesses and pay tax to their local and national governments, which is invested in infrastructure."
Heapy said this was not always the case with unlicensed properties. Addressing delegates, he asked those who have booked short-term rentals whether they’ve ever checked a property is health and safety licensed, whether it has a valid fire certificate and fire alarm, or whether its electrics have been signed off.
"When we see these protests in resort, it is against the politicians that have failed to regulate," he continued, calling for €200,000 fines for property owners and operators not complying with the same standards as the licensed sector.
"The number of properties will drop by 95% overnight," he said. "That will mean the protests stop. [Otherwise] these protests will get bigger and bigger. They will start to affect our destinations. They will start to put people off travelling. This will get worse and worse.
"To be honest, I don’t blame people for being upset about it and protesting. I’d probably do the same if it happened in my area."
