MHRA calls for action to regenerate Bugibba

The increase in arrivals in November and December was not reflected in business fortunes throughout the country, particularly so in Bugibba and Qawra, Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president Josef Formosa Gauci said yesterday.

Most of the establishments in this area were registering reduced occupancies when compared to last year, notwithstanding the fact that a number of hotels are not open this season.

This situation was also having a very negative effect on all restaurant outlets in the locality that have seen their revenues decline sharply, he added.

The MHRA, he said, was urging the authorities to assist in regenerating this resort.

In the absence of such action the trend of closing hotels and turning them into real estate development would continue and possibly accelerate, with the resultant loss in employment and economic activity in the area for these SMEs.

Mr Formosa Gauci was expressing his concerns at a meeting called for the MHRA's members in the Bugibba, Qawra and St Paul's Bay area to discuss the current business situation following what was described by some operators as one of "the worst Christmases and winters the locality has experienced".

Mr Formosa Gauci said that several hoteliers and restaurateurs in this area feel that they are being neglected by the relevant authorities.

Some "perennial" problems were raised by those attending the meeting, such as lack of cleanliness due to a lack of uniform garbage collection, construction sites, open sites used as dumping areas, lack of upkeep of soft areas, lack of maintenance on the promenade, lack of public conveniences, lack of parking facilities and lack of proper signage.

Furthermore this year there were no Christmas street decorations and activities held during the festive season with the result that there was no Christmas atmosphere in the area, it was claimed.

Mr Formosa Gauci said that had it not been for some hotels that took the initiative and decorated their immediate surroundings there would not have been any sign at all that Christmas had arrived.