Loan subsidy for extensions extended by two years

The government is extending the current subsidy of bank loans for refurbishment, for the addition of facilities and for small extensions beyond December, 2003 to December, 2005, Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said.

The scheme is being offered to owners/operators of licensed properties with 100 bedrooms or fewer. Repayment will be made over a maximum period of 10 years from the date of the loan.

The government will subsidise by two percentage points the rate of interest agreed between lending banks and owners/operators in the accommodation sector.

Dr Zammit Dimech was speaking during a visit to the three-star Sunflower Hotel in Qawra.

He said figures showed the importance of three star hotels to th tourism sector, with the number of guest nights spent in three star hotels going up from 13.21 per cent of the total in 1998, to 16.41 per cent in 2002.

The average achieved room rates with regard to three star hotels for the past years was increasing, from Lm8.48 in 1999; to Lm8.59 in 2000; Lm9.05 in 2001 and Lm9.43 in 2002.

He said that official statistics showed that tourists stayed mostly in three star hotels between the months of November and February, with the highest percentages reached in January.

In January, 2001 the average stay was 13.7 nights long while in January, 2002 the average stay was 15.7 nights.