Gozo airstrip referendum proposal

Proposals to improve transport services in Malta were made yesterday by real estate agent Frank Salt during a transport and tourism seminar held by the Foundation for Transport Studies.

He proposed holding a referendum in Gozo over the development of an airstrip. Such an airstrip, he said, was essential for the tourism industry but the Gozitans should be allowed to decide for themselves.

Mr Salt said the ferry service left a lot to be desired since it made it impossible for the island to be an all year round tourist destination. The ferry service to Gozo, he said, should run all day and night. If it did not, the extra service should be given to someone else, with possible external negotiated incentives.

Unfortunately, the service was not all weather as had been promised and this was causing great hardship to the Gozo tourism industry. Mr Salt criticised the taxi service saying the majority were too expensive and not using meters. Taxis were not used by the Maltese - a good indication as to why they should not be presented to tourists in their current form.

There should be many more smaller taxis charging less, making more trips per day and satisfying the needs of both Maltese and foreign visitors.

But, unfortunately, he added, there was no strategic plan for an attractive and efficient transport system for tourism in Malta and Gozo.

Mr Salt felt there was no point in developing Vittoriosa and the No 1 Dock if tourists could not get there with comparative ease and in a way that was attractive. Any project in that area would die if it was not supported by an efficient, attractive and useful general transport plan.

Malta should have a number of tourism priority areas.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech noted that the government will take a decision on the siting of two golf courses - one in Malta and one in Gozo - in the coming weeks. Figures issued by the National Office of Statistics showed that in the first 10 months of the year 1,047,099 tourists visited Malta, 3.7 per cent more than in the same period last year.

The minister said that according to the Economic Survey full-time employment in tourism related activities stood at 9,590 in September 2004, representing seven per cent of the gainfully occupied population.

The government,was aiming to increase the number of tourists by between 100,000 and 150,000 by 2006/2007, keeping the market share of tourists who visited to enjoy the sun and sea and dedicating more resources and marketing efforts to attract cultural, sports, language learning and conference tourism.