Twenty years ago, the Debono family bought a Pot of Gold, a nine-roomed guesthouse which had introduced them to the tourism business.
The business grew and among the family's assets is a 283-roomed four-star hotel, the Seabank Riu, inaugurated by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday evening.
The hotel, which has undergone an extensive renovation programme costing €6 million, will be marketed under the Riu name following a franchising agreement between the Debono family and the Spanish chain.
The hotel offers a vast range of facilities and other amenities including buffet and a la carte restaurants, a pizzeria, two bars, a pool deck area and a leisure centre fully equipped with a bowling centre, an internet café, a games room and a kids' area.
It is complemented by a complex incorporating a restaurant, a pub, a disco club, a beach lido and other water sports facilities a few steps away from the hotel, on the opposite side of the road overlooking the sea. The complex is also owned by the Debono family.
Seabank Group chairman Silvio Debono said the association with the Riu brand will give Malta an additional boost in the marketing of the island abroad and would result in the attraction of more bookings, something already being felt by the hotel.
The Riu Group was founded in Mallorca in 1953 and presently operated 115 establishments worldwide.
Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the tourism sector in Malta was built through private sector investment, which amounted to Lm500 million.
The sector's confidence in tourism was so strong it was currently investing Lm51 million in the building of new hotels and extensions.
The private sector was investing another Lm170 million in three large projects to benefit the sector, namely the Cottonera, the Manoel Island/Tigné and the Cruise Liner Passenger Terminal projects.
Dr Zammit Dimech said that apart from the Seabank Riu, another five new hotels would be inaugurated this year providing 1,844 beds and involving an investment of Lm39 million. These would be bringing over 27,000 tourists who could be considered new business.
The hotels were expected to make good for the jobs lost through the closure of lower category hotels and increase the number of workers in the sector.
The fact that while four- and five-star hotels were opening hotels in lower categories were closing down was significant because the number of tourists coming to Malta could not simply continue to rise. So it was positive to increase value by attracting tourists with higher spending power.
Dr Zammit Dimech said Malta was offering five-star facilities and attractions. Such facilities were opening new markets in the sector with new niches such as conferences and incentives. This niche on its own attracted 55,000 delegates, who last year spent Lm18.8 million.
Asked about low cost air carriers, the minister reiterated that there were no restrictions for European airlines to come over since Malta operated an open skies policy.
The issue being discussed was that such airlines, including Ryan Air, Easy Jet and other smaller ones, wanted lower handling charges.
The Maltese government was saying these could operate on the same level as other airlines but it was willing to offer lower charges on routes where it would like to see further growth, such as the Iberian peninsula. Such lower charges would, however, be offered to all airlines.
He said the ministry was expected to forward specific proposals to Ryan Air when they returned to Malta for talks in mid-June.
The proposals would also be presented to other airlines showing an interest in Malta. Dr Zammit Dimech said he was confident that a low cost airline would be able to operate to and from Malta.