Unrelenting determination

The signing last Thursday of an agreement through which Island Hotels have once again acquired the franchise to operate another Radisson hotel, this time in Golden Sands Bay is good news for the tourism industry in Malta.

A hotel which, though situated in one of our country's prime sites, had been left in a derelict state, will in the coming days be demolished to be substituted by a top quality resort. The synergy between a Malta success group and an international chain of repute will be consolidated. The country is moving ahead in providing a product that attracts more high-yield tourism.

The Golden Sands Hotel is one of the pioneer establishments in the tourist industry. It was built and extended in the early Sixties and is now ripe for re-development. The demolition of this hotel and its replacement by a five-star tourist resort and spa falls within Government policy to encourage rebuilding or refurbishment of current properties in operation with a licence.

Tourism is one of the mainstays of our economy. It is an industry with great potential of employment, it attracts foreign currency so much needed to pay for our imports and it is a major contributor to our Gross Domestic Product.

Tourism generates a quarter of our national wealth. This leaves no room for complacency especially at times of uncertainty which characterized the last three years in the tourism sector worldwide and locally.

Entrepreneurs in the tourism sector have shifted towards the five-star hotels category. In 1998, 486,486 guest nights were spent in five-star hotels. This represented 6.25 per cent of all guest nights spent in Malta by foreign visitors. In 2001, 905,172 guest nights were spent in five-star hotels or 8.18 per cent of all guest nights. Up to last October, 798,359 guest nights were spent in five-star hotels representing 8.41 per cent of all guest nights.

Interestingly enough, occupancy results for five-star hotels, which were the first to report a sharp decline after September 11, 2001, have been the first to show sings of recovery. In this category, occupancy rates were 66 per cent in 2000, going up to 67 per cent in 2001 and 68 per cent in 2002. The best quarter for last year was the fourth quarter when tourist arrivals increased by 7%. That suggests that much of the increase was related to short-stay five-star business.

This shift is reflected in the reason for travelling to Malta. Whereas in 1997, 5% of all visitors to Malta came for business, the figure shot up to 11% in 2002.

The Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort & Spa, situated at the edge of a cliff overlooking Golden Bay, is to be transformed into a 300-room hotel built and furnished to the highest specifications. A major feature of this tourist establishment will be a fully blown 1000 square meter spa and leisure centre.

The new hotel will also feature a 600-square metre conference room together with a number of large syndicate rooms fully equipped to handle conference and incentive groups.

Conference and incentive travel is one of our niche markets. In 2001 revenue generated by this type of business amounted to Lm18.4 million. Excluding the flight component, the average expenditure per delegate for 2001 was Lm319, that is approximately three times more what an average tourist spends. This is a lucrative niche market which represents about 60,000 visitors a year or about 4 per cent of all our arrivals. I feel that this market should be encouraged and I am pleased to note that the number of hotels that are providing facilities for conferences is on the increase.

The Island Hotels Group is to be commended for its foresight and entrepreneurship in the tourism industry. This Group commenced operations in 1987 with a tourist complex in Bugibba with 200 beds and employing 40 employees while it now represents a 2,000-bed group employing over 800 employees.

The relationship between this group and Radisson SAS is advantageous as the franchise agreement gives the group the right to use the name of such a prestigious company as well as their marketing structure which includes their reservation system. This sort of franchise was already tested giving very positive results to the Island Hotels Group that already operates the same system at the Radisson SAS in St Julian's.

One secret behind its success is the group's emphasis on the training of all staff to ensure the most efficient service. I am confident that the Golden Sands hotel complex, which is due to open in May 2005, will be an important addition to our tourism product.

Kurt Ritter, president and CEO, Rezidor SAS Hospitality, was present for last Thursday's singing ceremony. Mr Ritter has been awarded the 2002 Corporate Hotelier of the Year.

As indicated in Hotels, the magazine of the worldwide hotel industry, Mr Ritter exemplifies what it means to be a leader. He is respected and admired for his unrelenting determination, attention to detail and visionary approach to hotel operations.

Unrelenting determination is what it takes to move ahead with courage and vision to create products that provide for the new trends in the tourism industry as well as face the challenges that are evolving on a daily basis in this sector.

The growth of tourism in our own country cannot depend exclusively on the sheer number of tourists who come in search of the sun, sea and sand. Many other destinations can offer that and do so much more cheaply than what we could afford. While the number of arrivals remains important since we need to ensure that the available bed stock is taken up to the desired levels throughout the year, what we need is a mix that weighs more heavily in favour of the high-yield sector.

Over the past years, Government has been moving the industry in this direction. The fact that our own golden mile of hotels representing the world's leading names in the sector, ranging from the Hilton to the Intercontinental, from Westin to Radisson, and including our own Corinthia Group, is well in place and vibrant with activity. The fact that other hotels of repute are in the pipeline, such as Le Meridien in Balluta Bay and the new Radisson resort at Golden Sands, augurs well.

Tourism in Malta is run completely by the private sector. Entrepreneurs invest in hotels, restaurants and leisure. This sector is today worth hundreds of millions of Maltese liri and is in a continuous process of upgrading and modernisation.

This sector is overseen by the Malta Tourism Authority which was established under the Malta Travel and Tourism Services Act 1999. The MTA's objective is to influence the development of the overall tourism offer which include direct tourism facilities and the level of service provided. For this reason it involves all the stakeholders in the sector from air transport companies, to accommodation and catering establishments, travel agencies, car hire firms, diving clubs and language schools.

The MTA also advises Government on tourism operations and on the planning and development of the tourism industry as well as on the infrastructure supporting this industry. Hotels in Malta are built and run by the private sector. I am sure that an entrepreneur will not invest his millions in a hotel unless he is sure of a return on his investment.

In times of crisis tourism enterprises, like any other economic operators, put off decisions on investment. The list of tourist projects in the pipeline shows that the stakeholders who matter have confidence in Malta's tourism sector. These are the people who put the money where their mouth is, and do it with courage and vision.

Malta is on the threshold of membership of the European Union. As of May 1, 2004 this will qualify our islands for EU assistance, equivalent to 75 per cent of the cost of infrastructural, environmental and heritage projects that have an immediate impact on tourism. That will help us tremendously in developing further the quality of our national product. Moreover, membership will mean an internal market of 500 million people. These are all positive aspects which we will definitely tap.

It then remains up to us as a nation to collectively provide the product that matches this direction in favour of better quality and excellence. That also calls for our own unrelenting determination.

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