Cruising - from and to Malta

On Tuesday, Star Cruises, the leading cruise line company in Malaysia, and the third largest worldwide, commences operations in Malta. The island will serve as the home port for Super Star Libra, operated by this company. This prestigious liner will be based in Malta with cruising starting from and ending in Malta.

Although there have been smaller scale operations in the past where Malta has been used as a home port, next Tuesday's event represents an important breakthrough since it will not only mean further growth for Malta in the cruise line activity which is an increasingly important economic activity for us, but will also mean that the operation will serve to boost our tourism industry.

It will be my pleasure to welcome Mr Choong, managing director of Star Cruises, to Malta, as well as the captain of Super Star Libra and her crew and the passengers making the first trip on board this vessel, as I inaugurate the new service.

Super Star Libra is represented in Malta by SMS Ltd and I recall with satisfaction the talks held over the past months to ensure that Malta would become part of the equation for this Asian company. An agreement was reached last November and we could make the announcement at the World Travel Fair, one of the most important tourism events, held in London last November. 

Through that agreement, Star Cruises will base their vessel in Malta between June and October this year, for cruises which start and end in Grand Harbour. The company will be operating a total of 17 cruises from Malta and there are positive prospects for the service to expand beyond October as well as to be carried out next year. 

Star Cruises are based in Hong Kong and the company owns 20 cruise liners, with two more ships on order over the coming two years. The liner that will be based in Malta is 216 metres long and carries 1,900 passengers.

In the publicity to launch the new service, the point is made that Star Cruises, the leading cruise line in Asia Pacific, is "introducing the new eight-day Malta to Malta Mediterranean cruises". The ports of call include Santorini, Corfu, Iraklion (Greece); Civitavecchia, Naples, Venice, La Spezia, Messina, Olbia (Italy); Dubrovnik (Croatia); Alexandria (Egypt), as well as Istanbul and Izmir in Turkey.

From a tourism perspective, the significance of home porting is that there will be thousands of visitors who will fly into Malta to make the cruise from here. Many of them will use our hotels and in that way become normal tourists to our country.

In our tourism statistics, we never factor in the growing number of cruise liner visitors for the simple reason that we follow the international definition of a tourist as one who must spend at least one night in land-based accommodation before being considered. The moment, however, that you go for home porting, you will have people who will not merely be visiting Malta for a few hours as the vessel enters Grand Harbour but will spend a few days before and/or after the cruise commences and return to Malta precisely to make a comfortable connection for the purpose of taking the Malta to Malta cruise.

I am informed that there is an encouraging take-up of the Mediterranean itinerary that is being provided from our country, and that explains why it is already being planned to expand the period during which Super Star Libra will be based in Malta, as well as to start planning ahead for next year. The Malta Tourism Authority has been very supportive of this initiative.

The restructured MTA is committed to segment-driven marketing. The cruise-and-stay sector forms part of the "other growth markets" segment and it deserves our support as it represents one of the new travel trends that the country has geared up for.

Last year, 320,104 visitors made it to Malta aboard cruise liners. This figure, which, I repeat, is not added to our tourism statistics, represents a 9.7 per cent increase over 2004. This year, the Valletta Waterfront is expecting 400,000 passengers aboard cruise liners. Ten years ago, the number of cruise liner passengers stood at 69,240. One can immediately gauge the extent of the success we have had in this economic activity.

Already, during the first four months of this year, the number of cruise passengers who visited Malta went up by 47.9 per cent, to 56,681, an increase of 18,348 same-day visitors over the corresponding period last year. Major source markets for these visitors were Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States.

The Valletta Waterfront project was put in motion precisely to ensure that this activity not only grows further but that the country will reap all the possible benefit and reward from it. When I had negotiated the contract for this project, discussions were no bed of roses, but once concluded we knew that we had set precise and clear parameters as to how the project would evolve. The fact that there is already talk about the need to expand the project's footprint as well as provide for additional ancillary services, including new innovative 'transport' nodes between the Waterfront and the city centre as well as with the Cottonera side of our Grand Harbour, is a clear symptom of the success that has been achieved.

The other weekend, President Fenech Adami was at the Valletta Waterfront to inaugurate the Forni Sea Passenger Terminal that forms part of the project.

The Valletta Waterfront Project, which recently received the prestigious Europa Nostra award for the way the former warehouses built by Grand Master Pinto have been brilliantly restored and rehabilitated, provides an expression of how Malta can derive great economic benefit from its architectural heritage that had unfortunately been neglected for many years.

The Forni Sea Passenger Terminal is meant to provide for the envisaged growth in the Mediterranean over the coming years. Moreover the Magazzino Hall that has also been restored will be catering for the passengers waiting to start their trip on the Super Star Libra.

The cruise industry is a very successful one and accounts for nearly 14 million cruise holidays in 2004. Europe accounts for 21 per cent, or 2.8 million bookings. Moreover the Mediterranean area is one of the most sought after areas for cruising.

We must make the utmost use of our strategic position in the centre of the Mediterranean. For us that represents a historical mission and as the Mediterranean is likely to regain its traditional economic importance over the coming years, it is crucial for our country to ensure that it retains a competitive edge and project itself as the leading hub for different forms of economic activity.

People who have gone on different cruises testify that entering and departing from our Grand Harbour is an unbeatable experience. It means being welcomed by a unique and authentic line of bastions and fortifications that stands for our collective memory of the Great Siege and other layers of sheer history and cultural heritage. There is no make believe about it. It is all for real.

Only last Thursday, I was at Grand Harbour together with my colleague, Minister Censu Galea as the Malta Maritime Authority presented Heritage Malta with 12 cannons dating between the 17th and early 19th century, and which originally adorned the bastions around Grand Harbour or were used aboard the ships of the Order's fleet.

Consequently they were used by the Royal Navy following which they were used as bollards at various locations along the Maltese coastline until they were replaced with modern bollards. The presentation included a cable-marking buoy dating to the early part of the 20th century. The buoy is made of steel and is considered to be a unique maritime artefact.

The 12 guns are being transferred to Fort Mosta where they will be kept in storage until properly identified, catalogued and restored. The cable marking buoy will be on display at the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa.

The fact that our country represents 7,000 years of history places upon us an onerous but enjoyable responsibility that offers us so much satisfaction.

Cruising - from and to Malta - is part of the positive return that we can cleverly make out of our strategic location and unique historical as well as cultural heritage represented by our Grand Harbour. Tuesday's launch of a great new home porting activity makes the point very well. 

info@franciszammitdimech.com

www.franciszammitdimech.com