New Gozo Tourism Association chairman

Paul Scicluna is the new chairman of the Gozo Tourism Association after being elected during the first council meeting following the annual general meeting.

Mr Scicluna has been involved in the tourism sector for the last 27 years, starting his career with United Travel as representative of Exchange Travel of UK. For the last 22 years he has been general manager of Gozo Farmhouses Ltd and Gozo Heritage, both part of Mizzi Organisation.

Mr Scicluna told The Sunday Times that the main objectives of the Gozo Tourism Association were to continue working on marketing, accessibility and product issues throughout the year.

"The seasonality is affecting Gozo very badly," he said. "We have to use more prominently the online marketing for direct bookings and new clientele. The Gozo Tourism Association has to insist with tour operators to include Gozo as an all-year-round tourist destination and not stop featuring Gozo in their winter brochures.

"Gozo has a lot of qualities to attract tourists, not just in summer, but also in the shoulder and winter months. We are not taking enough advantage of our unique World Heritage sites, such as Ggantija Temples, the Citadel and Dwejra, which are all main selling points."

Mr Scicluna said that thanks to the Gozo Ministry and the association's hard work during the last years, Gozo will soon start benefiting from the EU-funded projects that positively affect the tourism sector.