Working together

Last Sunday, I made it a point to visit a number of hotels on the occasion of the eve of a New Year. I wanted to reassure the industry that, as long as we will be working together in the same direction, 2007 is promising to be a better year than the last.

It was heartening to hear that the same assessment is being made by the industry. Our main target is to manage tourism in a sustainable manner. This is reflected in the National Tourism Policy that has entered into force last Monday.

It will be part of the responsibility of my ministry to see to the implementation of that plan. We know it presents an ambitious project consisting of 275 different actions that have been largely plotted out together with the stakeholders.

The tourism plan will regularly form part of the agenda of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Tourism, which is chaired by the prime minister.

While I acknowledge that the past year has been a difficult one for the industry, indicators for the new year make me more optimistic about the present outlook, even if I choose to do that rather cautiously. Perhaps the best lesson to absorb from 2006 is that this is one sector that, more than any other, can never be taken for granted.

Still, it is a fact that, throughout 2007, low-cost carriers on their own should be generating 116,000 passengers from Luton, Pisa, Dublin, Bologna, Warsaw, Cologne and Stuttgart. I am referring to operations by Ryanair, Meridiana, Centralwings and Germanwings.

That is over and above passenger movements generated by British Jet, and apart from additional growth, which we can experience if we manage to reach an agreement with the airlines that have expressed interest over developing Spanish and Scandinavian routes.

As of this year we are in receipt of additional funds to the tune of €855 million that Malta will be receiving from the European Union between 2007 and 2013 in terms of the second financial protocol.

Looking at projects that pertain directly to tourism, my ministry has this year been allocated Lm5.8 million to use to upgrade the quality of our product in Malta and Gozo, to carry out international marketing initiatives, as well as help enterprise and NGOs in their programmes.

This year, we should have 12 projects of hotel extensions or new hotels, representing a total investment of around Lm25 million. These projects will be increasing the country's bed stock by 1,600, of which 1,324 are in five-star hotels.

The signs are encouraging. It will however all depend on our capability to work together in favour of the industry and the country as a whole.

Passenger movements

Malta International Airport keeps a precise, daily track of passenger movements to and from our country. Last month, those movements increased by nearly 13 per cent compared to December 2005.

In numeric terms this means that in December we had 16,000 additional passenger movements. Since these figures are for both outgoing and incoming persons, the incoming figure would be about half that amount - 8,000 more people entered Malta last month than they had done in the same month a year earlier.

It does not necessarily follow that we have had that many additional tourists, since one would always have to gauge whether Maltese persons were themselves travelling more than they had travelled a year earlier. Passenger movements are the first signal to look out for if you are monitoring what is happening in tourism.

In November passenger movements increased by 5.2 per cent. When figures were issued by the National Statistics Office, the increase for that month in the number of tourists coming over to Malta was of 2.7 per cent.

No wonder I regularly monitor passenger movement levels but hold my breath before translating that into what it means in terms of tourists visiting us. Having said that, more Maltese travelling out, practically every month of the year, must mean something about the state of our national economy!

AC Milan in Malta

For hundreds of people it will be a dream come true to be able to follow AC Milan in Malta this week for a match against Birkirkara FC. The team flew into Malta last week, flew out over the weekend to play against Juventus and now return to our country for their Malta match.

The team received a rousing welcome at our airport, and Italian and other foreign television crews covering the event in Malta did not fail to notice the sense of jubilation that our people can offer.

Moreover, it was refreshing to see pictures of the Milan players training at our Golden Sands Bay since they are staying at the Radisson Golden Sands Resort.

Such pictures that have already made their effect in different parts of the world speak volumes - training on a sandy beach in the beginning of January - with all the necessary light and warmth provided directly by the sun is a bonus that Malta is only too pleased to offer our distinguished and renowned guests.

Ministry for Tourism and Culture employees put in the extra effort required to ensure that the beach is kept spotless, as well as rake it and sift the sand - in time for the training sessions and the memorable occasion.

More cruise passengers

Cruise passengers are on the increase. Unless they overnight in land-based accommodation, we do not add up this figure with that of tourists. It is still an important economic activity since visitors who spend a few hours in Malta generate substantial economic activity and, depending on what impression they form of Malta during that brief stay, they may well decide to return as regular tourists.

In 2006, nearly 400,000 persons visited Malta on cruise liners. That is an increase of over 86,000 visitors over what we had in 2005. Viset plc, which is running the facilities for this sector, in line with the agreement that it had reached with Government, is projecting further growth this year.

It is estimated that these visitors have generated around Lm300,000 in economic activity every month. That is over and above money generated through organised tours or excursions booked by the visitors once they enter our country.

One challenge to look forward to is to provide for additional facilities in our Grand Harbour to be able to welcome more cruise liners this year, keeping in mind that these liners tend to be getting larger and larger.

Young sculptor

Over the past week, I visited Chris Ebejer, a young and very promising sculptor, while working on a statue to commemorate Pietro Paolo Floriani. I admired the detail that the artist is ensuring in his brilliant job.

The work of art has been commissioned by Floriana council, which has felt that it is high time that the engineer and military architect whose name has remained synonymous with that of the town, be appropriately honoured.

Pietro Paolo Floriani (1585-1638) designed part of the Valletta fortifications. He also had seen to other fortifications in Italy, as well as in northern Europe.

Creative forum

Events pertaining to culture and the arts are increasing in scope and in calibre. To provide for more, much more, remains my firm commitment for 2007.

Tomorrow morning, I shall be launching the 'Valletta Creative Forum', a cultural think tank that is being set up by St James' Cavalier. The project is being developed in collaboration with my ministry, the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, and the British Council.

The forum should help bring together different persons in the culture and arts field to share their experiences and to do so within the wider Euro-Mediterranean context.

For a country, and for a centre that is excelling in providing space for different creative expressions, this initiative gives added weight to our profile in the arts.

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