Decline in German tourist arrivals likely to be reversed

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech yesterday said he was sure the Frosch Touristik International (FTI) summer 2004 brochures would give the necessary boost to reverse the declining trend of arrivals from Germany.

Also, the fact that the former FTI management was back at the helm could give more than a helping hand to increase arrivals from Germany and Austria, the minister said during the launching of the brochures at the InterContinental Hotel.

The number of German tourists has been in decline for the past five years, with arrivals going down from 212,430 in 1999 to 142,106 last year.

Even the share of tourists from Germany went down from 17.6 per cent in 1999 to 12.5 per cent last year.

Between January and October there was a decline of 17,109 tourists, down by 13.1 per cent, to reach 113,274.

The share also went down from 12.8 per cent in the first 10 months of last year to 11.2 per cent in the same period this year.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that the economic slowdown in Germany led to an increase in domestic tourism, more travel within the same region and more travel by road and rail. This was definitely badly affecting travel to Malta. At the same time there was a decline in outbound tourism.

Dietmar Gunz set up Frosch Touristik in 1984 as a specialised tour operator offering Malta as its main destination and, up to some time ago, was bringing over 100,000 visitors annually.

During the late Nineties, Airtours bought a third of FTI's shares and the company's policy was geared to large scale diversification to core Mediterranean destinations and destinations in Africa and the Caribbean. FTI business to Malta reached its peak in 2000 with 110,000 passengers or more than half of all German arrivals to Malta.

In 2000 Airtours acquired all the remaining shares of the FTI after which Mr Gunz resigned from FTI. But last October, Mr Gunz and other shareholders repurchased the FTI shareholding from Airtours plc.

Dr Zammit Dimech described Mr Gunz as a great friend of Malta who always believed in our country's potential as a tourist destination. FTI were optimistic that sales to Malta from Germany and Austria can increase again in future. With this firm conviction FTI enhanced its Malta programme and seat capacity for Summer 2004, he said.

Almost 800 German and Austrian travel agents are in Malta for the launch.