Gozo is a crucial component of our tourism industry. For our sister island tourism is even more important than it is for Malta. It is up to us to give it all the attention it deserves.
I have been a regular visitor to Gozo for years, and in the process have discovered its joys well before it became fashionable for many Maltese to spend a weekend there as part of their routine. Last Friday I spent the day in Gozo to assess progress being made by the Malta Tourism Authority in giving it more focus and importance.
I was accompanied by the MTA's executive chairman and senior officials. For the first time ever our delegation included the newly appointed segment head for Gozo. The industry in Gozo now has a focal point to refer to as it takes up new initiatives to enhance tourism.
The Gozo Tourism Association openly welcomed the move in line with its own wishes. Like other segment heads, Naomi has signed up for specific minimum and optimum targets. Within the restructured MTA, every segment head is making that kind of commitment to be assessed by. The targets for each segment head are divided into figures of arrivals that must be secured from different source markets.
Every head will administer his or her budget and helped by a core team to carry out the functions and action plans laid out from time to time. Legislative proposals will soon be made to provide for the setting up of segment advisory groups which will be appointed by the industry. Each group will have full access to the information pertaining to the segment and have every opportunity to advise the segment head as to how the industry itself would like to achieve better results.
As was repeatedly pointed out on Friday, Gozo is not just one of the segments. Gozo is a destination in its own right and will be represented on other segment advisory groups precisely to ensure that Gozo receives its fair share of business in every niche, ranging from conference and incentive travel to language schools, from leisure to cultural travel, from sports tourism including diving to new growth areas, such as the cruise liner business.
Our extensive meetings on Friday appropriately kicked off at the Gozo Ministry where my colleague and friend Giovanna Debono referred to various initiatives taken up by her ministry to enrich the Gozo product. Various projects such as the construction of new arterial roads that are indispensable for the growth of the tourism industry will not come about without some pain.
Every person who has had to decorate one room of his home knows that some inconvenience will be caused to the family before it can enjoy the benefits of the works carried out. Similarly, every hotelier who upgraded his product knows that it simply cannot be done without causing some discomfort in the process.
Gozo will be no exception. With the construction of major roads, apart from the new ferry terminal at Mgarr, a decompression chamber for divers, a training hotel/tourism studies school, proper restoration works on such historic treasures as Ggantija and the Citadel, a Heritage Park at Dwejra, as well as beach projects, one can anticipate the pain that will in turn bring about an abundance of gain.
Every effort will be made to minimise the inconvenience as well as to manage works properly, explaining to one and all the nature of the projects being carried out. Gozo deserves no less, and the attention that our sister island is receiving will lead to the enriching of the whole product and to an exponential economic growth from which the entire country will benefit.
Since I became responsible for tourism I wanted to give more input to Gozo. To ensure that the industry is adequately represented I asked the Gozo Tourism Association to recommend suitable candidates for the Malta Tourism Board and went along with their advice.
The people in the trade will always be our best sounding boards of what the situation is really like. When we face a downturn in January and February in Malta, the effect on Gozo is more dramatic and what I wrote about last Sunday, with regard to making every effort to avoid Malta becoming a seasonal destination, applies even more to Gozo.
Equally, the more positive forecasts that we have from March onwards apply to Gozo. Having segment teams in place and having Gozo identified as one of those segments will ensure not only that Gozo receives its fair share but that it will also experience the growth levels it deserves.
The person chosen to head the Gozo segment comes to the job with an innate love for Gozo (being half-Gozitan herself) but also with vast experience and direct knowledge of marketing in general. With immediate effect, Gozo's voice at international travel fairs, at specialised events as well as in campaigns and road shows aimed at operators will be louder, more clear and more effective.
The creation of a Heritage Park at Dwejra was among the items discussed last Friday. The aims of the park are not merely conservation-related but also include the fulfilment of educational goals and the provision of opportunities for activities such as specialised tourism.
Twenty-three measures in the relevant Action Plan include the construction and operation of an interpretation centre, the use and management of the Qawra tower, the conservation of rubble walls, seeking to preserve the famous Azure Window (it-Tieqa), the improvement of St Anne's chapel, and the management of diving activities that have already been enhanced by setting up some wooden flights of steps and passageways protected by steel railings without jarring with the environs.
In monitoring initiatives of the MTA as regards Gozo, I am encouraged by the fact that minutes of former visits by the executive chairman are drawn up so that for every issue identified, there is the corresponding action to be carried out, as well as a designation of by whom and by when every task is to be implemented.
Other initiatives will include better screening of works at Mgarr Harbour, managing queues of tourists at Cirkewwa and Mgarr, organising Gozo selling workshops at foreign venues, upgrading services at Ramla l-Hamra, enhancing Xlendi Bay next year, creating as well as managing countryside walks, scuttling boats- including two former patrol boats that the MTA has just bought from the Armed Forces - in Gozo to increase the diving potential, setting up climbing attractions, and seeing to the needs of Marsalforn in time for next summer.
The industry in Gozo has the necessary confidence in the product. That explains why the Kempinksi Hotel has reopened with an additional 75 units and new facilities, or why Ta' Cenc Hotel is planning a major multi-million liri project. The owners of Calypso Hotel informed me of their application to double the present size and add another 100 beds. Moreover the Chambray project will kick off later this year.
Since my ministry is also responsible for culture, I seek to ensure that Gozo benefits from better management of its museums and heritage sites. Last year, the Gozo Area office within Heritage Malta began updating the inventories of the collections in the Gozo museums. More significantly, an original tombstone discovered in 1901 during the construction of the present church of Ta' Savina in Victoria was transferred back from Malta to Gozo.
My ministry is moreover supporting various events in the performing and visual arts to help Gozo become more events-oriented. This week, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts will hold its first ever meeting in Gozo to give a clear signal that Gozo will be featuring prominently in our cultural and arts calendar.
Jewels are not to be treated as well guarded secrets! Gozo is a jewel to share with others, not least to be appreciated better by the Maltese and to attract more international visitors.
Keeping up another tradition of mine, today I shall only too gladly return to Gozo, this time for the annual Ikla tal-Hbieb organised by the Nationalist Party's Gozo district committee.
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