More must be done, hoteliers insist

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said the new tourism incentives launched by the government on Monday were not enough to breathe life back into the industry.

Strongly-worded motions approved at a lengthy extraordinary general meeting for members yesterday contrasted sharply with the tone of the statement issued by the MHRA council right after the government announced its support schemes.

This change even stunned the government which expressed surprise at how the MHRA had first supported the incentives but then changed its tune and said these were not enough.

The association's members were however unanimous in their stand that these were half-baked measures. The six motions endorsed yesterday set a number of conditions for the government to address the industry's precarious situation.

It was agreed that a task force had to be set up immediately by the MHRA and the government so that, by April 30, a concrete plan would be drawn up to address the present state of affairs.

The MHRA pointed out in one of the motions that the target of 50,000 extra tourists per year for 2005 to 2007 should not be seen in isolation, but had to be accompanied by proportionate increases in revenue and bed nights spent in hotels.

Taking today's average spend of Lm230 per visitor, this decision would translate into a growth of Lm12 million in revenue a year. Additionally, at today's average of 8.7 nights, it would equate to a growth of 435,000 room nights.

The MHRA members insisted that the Malta Tourism Authority had to present a clear structured plan to its council on how such targets would be achieved.

Malta's lack of exposure abroad remained a major issue and launching the island's new branding image had to be given more urgency, the association said.

In its motion on this issue, the association insisted that the industry's investment had to be backed by adequate funds allocated by the government for the island's promotion - these funds had to be a realistic percentage of the gross domestic product.

A further amount had to be allocated to market the Maltese product with immediate effect. The MHRA suggested that part of this amount be used to launch a new brand on the European market, while the rest be pumped into tactical marketing to boost figures for next winter.

In its third motion the MHRA said the government had to come up with a scheme that would allow low-cost airlines to fly into Malta all year round and not as proposed by the government for the period between November and March.

It did, however, note that the interests of Air Malta and other flag carriers had to be safeguarded and treated on a level playing field.

It was pointed out that the MTA's restructuring seemed to be delayed. In light of this, the MHRA members felt a committee had to be set up so that, together with independent consultants, it could examine what has been achieved to date and what has not. A report would have to be finalised and circulated to members by the end of this month.

The association members wanted the full restructuring process to be complete by no later than June 15.

In another motion, the MHRA recommended that the government should introduce a capping system for the restaurant sector, which was facing the full impact of the electricity surcharge.

If this were not an option the government had to seek other ways of helping the sector, especially since restaurants did not benefit from any reduced VAT rates.

In its final motion, the MHRA said it would like to see the maintenance and upkeep of all the tourism areas upgraded and given top priority.

Reacting to the meeting, the government insisted that its incentives were in the interest of all the industry and not just of the few.

"It does not make sense that instead of focusing on the needs of our industry, we pay more attention to the requests being made by some low-cost carrier, especially if these requests can greatly damage the tourism sector," the government said.

It was not just the MHRA that came out saying the government's new tourism incentives were not enough; the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, echoed a similar sentiment.

Philip Fenech, the GRTU's spokesman for tourism and leisure, said that while the measures were a step in the right direction, more had to be done. The GRTU also felt that low-cost carriers should be able to operate all year round.

The leisure and tourism economic group of the Malta Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise also voiced reservations on the support schemes.

The group felt the schemes merely addressed a section of the industry rather than its entirety. While it agreed that other new destinations had to be opened, the government had to ensure that Air Malta and other carriers should consolidate their operations during the winter months in the case of Barcelona, Budapest, Bucharest, Cologne, Madrid, Nantes, Naples, Palermo, Porto, Prague, Reggio Calabria, St Petersburg and Toulouse.

"It is impossible to promote Malta in the these markets for the simple reason they only operate during specific summer months. No tour operator is willing to invest in a destination when the flights are limited," it said.

It objected to the fact that MTA planned to launch a website through which potential visitors may book their flight, hotel accommodation, car hire and other services online. This move, it noted, was in direct competition with local handling agents and tour operators. It strongly recommended that MTA launched a website with a link to all stakeholders' websites.

Finally, it called on the Prime Minister and the Tourism Minister to hold a meeting with all stakeholders to discuss the proposed schemes and to also take such views into consideration.