Minister calls for unity to push industry forward

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech admitted yesterday that tourist arrivals in June and July were expected to continue to show a decline after having dipped by 1.4 per cent, or 5,400 tourists in the first five months of the year.

Speaking in Parliament during a debate on an opposition motion on tourism, Dr Zammit Dimech said there were various reasons for this performance. There was stiff competition from new destinations and Malta was still heavily dependant on tour operator business, when tour operators were increasingly taking their business to long haul or mass volume destinations. Furthermore, although Malta's per capita spending on marketing was high, it could not compare with the huge budgets of destinations such as Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Croatia.

Only on Thursday, Dr Zammit Dimech said he had spoken to a major tour operator who explained that other destinations actually paid for each tourist who landed at their airports.

Dr Zammit Dimech said the absence of low-cost airlines was also a factor in the current situation, with a percentage of tourists deciding on their destination after entering the websites of those airlines, where Malta did not currently feature.

It was obvious that Malta lost out from tourists who travelled by car or train. It was doing well in the cruise liners sector however - where arrivals rose by 26,000 or 24.4 per cent between January and June. Those visitors were not included in the number of tourist arrivals but every effort was being made to encourage them to return for a longer visit.

Dr Zammit Dimech tabled a Mediterranean tourism performance report for 2005 and the first months of 2006, drawn up by Leslie Vella, head of research at the MTA, noting how, for example, Spain had registered a growth rate of six per cent in the first half of this year and the Balearics saw their tourism grow by 2.5 per cent. Other countries, such as Cyprus and Turkey, had seen a decline. The report, he said, discussed the reasons for growth and declines.

In Malta, where arrivals grew last year though not at a satisfactory rate, one of the problems which had stifled growth in the summer was limited bed stock.

In May this year figures were not higher because of limited air seat capacity.

Dr Zammit Dimech underlined the importance of the tourism product as a whole. That, he said, included the service providers, and one sometimes heard horror stories of the quality of service given to tourists by some irresponsible elements. This attitude had an impact on repeat business and as a result the tourist authorities had to spend much of their time counteracting negative comments and seeking new business, when everyone knew how important repeat business was.

Dr Zammit Dimech expressed his gratitude to Romwald Lungaro Mifsud, outgoing chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority, who had taken over the job at a difficult time when major decisions had to be taken, even with regard to the restructuring of the MTA. Mr Lungaro Mifsud had worked with commitment, enthusiasm and personal sacrifice, giving the MTA a higher profile, greater pride for those who worked within it as well as a stronger element of accountability.

He had also launched several initiatives, notably with regard to branding.

He also welcomed Sam Mifsud, the new MTA chairman who was nominated in agreement with the private sector. He had no doubt that the MTA would continue to move forward under his guidance.

Dr Zammit Dimech said progress was also being made for the appointment of a CEO for the authority and he augured that the choice by the selection board could be made next week. It was also hoped that a deputy CEO could be appointed by September.

The question he wanted to ask the House and everyone, however, was whether they would all back these officials so that all would pull at the same rope in the same direction.

Mr Mifsud was starting off with the backing of the government and the private sector, but he also needed the support of the opposition. He was saying so because just two days after Mr Mifsud's appointment, the MLP's online newspaper had already started to try to trip him up.

Rather than an emergency plan, what Malta needed was a plan of unity. All needed to give a clear, consistent and unified message to push tourism forward.

Dr Zammit Dimech said it was true that there had been calls for his own resignation by Winston J. Zahra. He met Mr Zahra recently, shook hands, and they agreed that all should work together to turn a new page for tourism.

This hand of friendship was being extended to all sectors, Dr Zammit Dimech said.

One of the initiatives he was taking was to form a small consultative group which he and the MTA chairman would meet to discuss specific issues, such as marketing. He had invited Labour MP and former tourism minister Karmenu Vella to join this group. Unfortunately he had declined the invitation, in consideration of his duties in Parliament and his other activities. Dr Zammit Dimech said Mr Vella had a proven record in tourism and he hoped Mr Vella would reconsider his decision.

Referring to low cost airlines, Dr Zammit Dimech said Malta needed to have a share in this growing sector. It wanted to attract such new business, but it had to have a proper mix of all types of airlines. The government also wanted to continue to improve relations with airlines already serving Malta. Certainly one could not be overly reliant on low-cost airlines. Still, Malta had offered the low-cost airlines new routes such as Luton, The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Pisa and Basle. Other routes would be issued as necessary.

It was important, however, that Air Malta remained strong because it was fundamental for Malta. Malta also needed to maintain its links with the tour operators.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that Malta also needed to tap new markets, such as China and India.

He said that language studies remained an important market. Following talks with the Home Affairs Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the private sector, it had been decided that special temporary visas would be issued for language students and students following other courses in Malta. The visas would be valid for the duration of the course up to one year, and could be renewed. The visitors may be required to report to the immigration authorities from time to time. Dr Zammit Dimech also underlined the importance of product development. He said the new sandy beach at St George's Bay continued to be improved a few weeks ago and the new perched beach at Bugibba was nearing completion and was already being used by hundreds of bathers. Other examples of improvement included Howard Gardens at Rabat, whose refurbishment would be celebrated on Monday, as well as the recent refurbishment of the Upper Barraka and Hastings Gardens in Valletta, the Roman Domus, the Hypogeum, the repaving of Mdina project and the work being carried out on Hagar Qim and Mnajdra.

He insisted, however, that the product was the responsibility of everyone, including the karozzini owners who argued among themselves and haggled over prices, the restauranteurs and those responsible for street cleaning.

Branding was not just the remit of the MTA, but of everyone. Next week all households would receive literature about why everyone should be proud of Malta as a tourism destination and why everyone should do their bit to project the right image. Indeed, this promotion of the right image also applied to the media. Why was the impression being given in the local press that the jellyfish problem was only restricted to Malta, for example?

The minister said efforts were being made to increase the number of events and significant headway had already been made as evidenced by the concerts by Joseph Calleja, Sting and Roger Waters, the recent Malta fashion parade, the Jazz Festival, the Malta Arts Festival and, soon, a concert by Andrea Bocelli.

These, Dr Zammit Dimech said, were difficult and challenging times, but still, in the first six months of this year the MTA had approved 14 projects for the building of new hotels, extensions and other tourist accommodation having 1,027 room units. A further six applications - three new hotels and three extensions for a total 720 units, were under consideration. Thus, while this was a challenging time, there was confidence in the sector which was seeing opportunities.

The important thing was that all would move forward together, Dr Zammit Dimech said.

Now that the government had published its strategic plan for tourism, he looked forward to the consultation process and hoped the opposition would participate in it.