The case for a Gozo Tourism Authority
The Gozo Tourism Association insists that the time has come for a Gozo Tourism Authority. And it points to the Malta Tourism Authority's own advertising to prove its point.The familiar images of Ramla Bay and the Azure Window are advertised but what is...
The Gozo Tourism Association insists that the time has come for a Gozo Tourism Authority. And it points to the Malta Tourism Authority's own advertising to prove its point.
The familiar images of Ramla Bay and the Azure Window are advertised but what is the website address given below? www.visitmalta.com
"The problem is domestic competition. We are competing with Malta and this is why we need to have our own identity, our own brand, our own advertising," association president Joe Muscat said.
20070517-business--int2.jpg"When tourists book twin centre holidays, the Maltese make sure that they come to Gozo for the last few days - because they know that otherwise, the tourists would decide to stay on here!
"People from Manchester, Munich and Milan do not want the hustle and bustle of St Julians. That is fine for young people. But people of a certain quality want to come here."
The association has always taken the bull by the horns - within the limitations of its human and financial resources. It is currently in discussions with a private company on the setting up of its own web portal - hoping to get financing for it from the EU.
"Why should we have to do this? We are paying the same licences as Maltese operators.
"I am not fighting for the independence of Gozo but that is what it boils down to because when the MTA portal was launched, Hotel Calypso was listed as being in Zebbug, rather than in the resort of Marsalforn! They don't know about Gozo! And why should our property be listed with other properties in Malta? We are a distinct destination. This is why the GTA wants to have a Gozo Tourism Authority," he said.
It does not help that the MTA does not have a Gozo segment any more, but a unit - and the former Gozo director Naomi Attard has also moved on.
"You may ask what is in a name but we no longer have that person fighting for Gozo. I spent two years on the MTA board - the one that had resigned - when Gozo was a segment. I sat opposite Maltese hoteliers. How could I ever persuade them to invest in something that would benefit Gozitan hotels?
"The product is there. We have the most important archaeological site in the world but are not able to bring one person here specifically to see it, even though it is the most visited historical site on the islands, attracting 167,000 every year. These are day-trippers who make a contribution to the economy but they are not enough!" he said.
One reason the association is pushing so hard is because the outlook is far from positive.
"The problem with Gozo is the high element of seasonality. We are saturated from mid-July to mid-September but occupancy across the year is just 33-35 per cent, compared to Malta where it runs at 65-67 per cent. It is simply not sustainable.
"Even farmhouses, which make up 52 per cent of the bedstock on the island, are seeing a decline in bookings. They do not get enough bookings from tour operators. The domestic weekend market is not enough.
"We are surviving on the back of repeat business, including locals. This means that people were satisfied and we hope that they will encourage others to visit. But we cannot only rely on them."
The fact that hotels are being closed down and turned into apartments makes the situation even more worrying:
"Believe me, I don't rub my hands in glee because the Hotel Calypso, which I manage, has less competition! We need more bedstock not less. For example, in the three-star category, there is the Downtown, with 40 units and the San Andrea, which has 28. How can a tour operator feature a destination like Gozo with just 68 units to sell?" he fretted.
The association has done what it can, using EU funded projects to get things underway when finances were needed, and plain old leadership when not. It was, for example, behind the scheme for diners to get rebates on the Gozo Channel ferries, as well as the provision of luggage trolleys on board. It has four billboards up (at the moment promoting Lejlet Lapsi) as well as publishing the magazine Let's Gozo, which is distributed to 40,000 households in Malta. It also persuaded the government to allocate Lm50,000 from the Good Causes Fund to organise activities while the Maltese are in Gozo.
The projects absorbed €1.4 million worth of EU funds. These include two scuttled vessels as diving attractions, the hyperbaric unit and the hotel school being opened in Qala, which will have 30 hotel rooms, representing the various categories, as well as restaurants and kitchens. It also helped to get the showcases at the Archaeology Museum which display artefacts from the Brockdorff Circle.
"These projects were all instigated by us. We are not after the glory of photo opportunities and ribbon-cutting. We just want to see things moving," he said.
The association is also pushing for more cruise liners: In the 2007-2013 EU budget, there is a sum allocated for pontoons outside Mgarr harbour but he believes it would have been better to extend the terminal so that the cruise liners would not be affected by weather conditions.
"We are not after large cruise liners but ones with 250 passengers, like the Spirit of Adventure which stopped off Xlendi last week," he said.
"I see cruise liners the way I see day trippers - as a form of promotion. People come here, see Gozo for themselves and decide to come back because their experience is positive."
Promotion alone is not, however, going to be enough. People have to be able to get to the island, he said, and the time has come for the government to take the plunge and go for an airstrip for a fixed-wing aircraft.
"Accessibility is the key to the success of every destination. Even Malta, as a mainland, felt this and brought in low fare airlines. Imagine how much bigger Gozo's problems are.
"The ferry has to be complemented by an air link. The situation now is worse than it was 15 years ago. At least then we had a helicopter service and passengers could check in to their final destination.
"The recent service was a flop. Who could afford to pay Lm50 plus VAT to travel from Malta to Gozo when you are paying Lm20 to fly to Malta?" he said.
The GTA feels that the time has come for a courageous decision in favour of an airstrip. "We need a fixed wing aircraft, not a helicopter, which proved to be unsustainable even with subsidies," he stressed.
The association has nothing against the idea of a seaplane - but not as an alternative to a fixed-wing operation.
"We do not need something that provides an intermittent service but something constant and reliable, that works day and night, all year round, in all weather," he said.
You might assume that a bridge would offer the most reliable link but the idea is not popular.
"Personally, since I have a daughter studying at university, I am in favour of a bridge, but from the tourism point of view, having worked in this industry for 28 years, I think Gozo would lose its characteristics.
"It would become an extension of Malta. What guarantee would we have that a bridge would keep our hotels full, any more than the hotels in Marsascala are kept full?
"A bridge would serve the interests of one part of society but one that is already served by the very reliable ferry. The last time that a ferry could not work because of bad weather was for a four-hour period in Carnival last year."
He said the government is also dragging its feet on other things, like a golf course, which the association thinks would also boost the Gozo product.
Other ways to enhance niche activities are within the association's capability, like walking tours, but require government support.
"The association, with the MTA, published booklets on four walks in Gozo but if you go there, you find a skip on one side, collapsed rubble walls on another, litter somewhere else, signs that are broken or rusty or defaced.
And in addition there may be a problem during the hunting season...
"I am sick of drawing the authorities' attention to all these things. You get referred to the local council and although they have done many positive things, they cannot only focus on aspects of the locality that will win votes for them. There are no votes to win in a valley!"
The association would love to see a month-long opera season using both its theatres, convinced that it would be able to offer packages of up to eight operas that would interest tour operators.
"This is a niche that Malta could not take from us," he said with a nod.
There are also tour operators who organise packages for people who want to learn how to make lace, and religious-themed tours, that could make the most of the island's pageantry, including its five Good Friday processions.
Another area not yet being exploited is agrotourism. "Someone is organising visits to a farm on a small scale, to see limoncello, wine and olive oil being made. But the agrotourism you get in Italy, for example, where you stay on the farm, has not yet been exploited. Perhaps the blame lies with the industry itself which has not yet approached farmers to explain the concept.
"We can do things if we put our minds to it. After all, we were able to create the whole idea of the farmhouse, which is being copied in the Hebrides - but they are using new huts and not conversions of genuine, centuries-old properties.
"There are 14 of us on the council, from hotels, diving operators, apartments... I tell you we always talk about tourism in Gozo. I believe that success in tourism translates to success for the whole economy. This is even more true in Gozo.
"We never allow self-interest to prevail. This is why the association has survived so long."
The familiar images of Ramla Bay and the Azure Window are advertised but what is the website address given below? www.visitmalta.com
"The problem is domestic competition. We are competing with Malta and this is why we need to have our own identity, our own brand, our own advertising," association president Joe Muscat said.
20070517-business--int2.jpg"When tourists book twin centre holidays, the Maltese make sure that they come to Gozo for the last few days - because they know that otherwise, the tourists would decide to stay on here!
"People from Manchester, Munich and Milan do not want the hustle and bustle of St Julians. That is fine for young people. But people of a certain quality want to come here."
The association has always taken the bull by the horns - within the limitations of its human and financial resources. It is currently in discussions with a private company on the setting up of its own web portal - hoping to get financing for it from the EU.
"Why should we have to do this? We are paying the same licences as Maltese operators.
"I am not fighting for the independence of Gozo but that is what it boils down to because when the MTA portal was launched, Hotel Calypso was listed as being in Zebbug, rather than in the resort of Marsalforn! They don't know about Gozo! And why should our property be listed with other properties in Malta? We are a distinct destination. This is why the GTA wants to have a Gozo Tourism Authority," he said.
It does not help that the MTA does not have a Gozo segment any more, but a unit - and the former Gozo director Naomi Attard has also moved on.
"You may ask what is in a name but we no longer have that person fighting for Gozo. I spent two years on the MTA board - the one that had resigned - when Gozo was a segment. I sat opposite Maltese hoteliers. How could I ever persuade them to invest in something that would benefit Gozitan hotels?
"The product is there. We have the most important archaeological site in the world but are not able to bring one person here specifically to see it, even though it is the most visited historical site on the islands, attracting 167,000 every year. These are day-trippers who make a contribution to the economy but they are not enough!" he said.
One reason the association is pushing so hard is because the outlook is far from positive.
"The problem with Gozo is the high element of seasonality. We are saturated from mid-July to mid-September but occupancy across the year is just 33-35 per cent, compared to Malta where it runs at 65-67 per cent. It is simply not sustainable.
"Even farmhouses, which make up 52 per cent of the bedstock on the island, are seeing a decline in bookings. They do not get enough bookings from tour operators. The domestic weekend market is not enough.
"We are surviving on the back of repeat business, including locals. This means that people were satisfied and we hope that they will encourage others to visit. But we cannot only rely on them."
The fact that hotels are being closed down and turned into apartments makes the situation even more worrying:
"Believe me, I don't rub my hands in glee because the Hotel Calypso, which I manage, has less competition! We need more bedstock not less. For example, in the three-star category, there is the Downtown, with 40 units and the San Andrea, which has 28. How can a tour operator feature a destination like Gozo with just 68 units to sell?" he fretted.
The association has done what it can, using EU funded projects to get things underway when finances were needed, and plain old leadership when not. It was, for example, behind the scheme for diners to get rebates on the Gozo Channel ferries, as well as the provision of luggage trolleys on board. It has four billboards up (at the moment promoting Lejlet Lapsi) as well as publishing the magazine Let's Gozo, which is distributed to 40,000 households in Malta. It also persuaded the government to allocate Lm50,000 from the Good Causes Fund to organise activities while the Maltese are in Gozo.
The projects absorbed €1.4 million worth of EU funds. These include two scuttled vessels as diving attractions, the hyperbaric unit and the hotel school being opened in Qala, which will have 30 hotel rooms, representing the various categories, as well as restaurants and kitchens. It also helped to get the showcases at the Archaeology Museum which display artefacts from the Brockdorff Circle.
"These projects were all instigated by us. We are not after the glory of photo opportunities and ribbon-cutting. We just want to see things moving," he said.
The association is also pushing for more cruise liners: In the 2007-2013 EU budget, there is a sum allocated for pontoons outside Mgarr harbour but he believes it would have been better to extend the terminal so that the cruise liners would not be affected by weather conditions.
"We are not after large cruise liners but ones with 250 passengers, like the Spirit of Adventure which stopped off Xlendi last week," he said.
"I see cruise liners the way I see day trippers - as a form of promotion. People come here, see Gozo for themselves and decide to come back because their experience is positive."
Promotion alone is not, however, going to be enough. People have to be able to get to the island, he said, and the time has come for the government to take the plunge and go for an airstrip for a fixed-wing aircraft.
"Accessibility is the key to the success of every destination. Even Malta, as a mainland, felt this and brought in low fare airlines. Imagine how much bigger Gozo's problems are.
"The ferry has to be complemented by an air link. The situation now is worse than it was 15 years ago. At least then we had a helicopter service and passengers could check in to their final destination.
"The recent service was a flop. Who could afford to pay Lm50 plus VAT to travel from Malta to Gozo when you are paying Lm20 to fly to Malta?" he said.
The GTA feels that the time has come for a courageous decision in favour of an airstrip. "We need a fixed wing aircraft, not a helicopter, which proved to be unsustainable even with subsidies," he stressed.
The association has nothing against the idea of a seaplane - but not as an alternative to a fixed-wing operation.
"We do not need something that provides an intermittent service but something constant and reliable, that works day and night, all year round, in all weather," he said.
You might assume that a bridge would offer the most reliable link but the idea is not popular.
"Personally, since I have a daughter studying at university, I am in favour of a bridge, but from the tourism point of view, having worked in this industry for 28 years, I think Gozo would lose its characteristics.
"It would become an extension of Malta. What guarantee would we have that a bridge would keep our hotels full, any more than the hotels in Marsascala are kept full?
"A bridge would serve the interests of one part of society but one that is already served by the very reliable ferry. The last time that a ferry could not work because of bad weather was for a four-hour period in Carnival last year."
He said the government is also dragging its feet on other things, like a golf course, which the association thinks would also boost the Gozo product.
Other ways to enhance niche activities are within the association's capability, like walking tours, but require government support.
"The association, with the MTA, published booklets on four walks in Gozo but if you go there, you find a skip on one side, collapsed rubble walls on another, litter somewhere else, signs that are broken or rusty or defaced.
And in addition there may be a problem during the hunting season...
"I am sick of drawing the authorities' attention to all these things. You get referred to the local council and although they have done many positive things, they cannot only focus on aspects of the locality that will win votes for them. There are no votes to win in a valley!"
The association would love to see a month-long opera season using both its theatres, convinced that it would be able to offer packages of up to eight operas that would interest tour operators.
"This is a niche that Malta could not take from us," he said with a nod.
There are also tour operators who organise packages for people who want to learn how to make lace, and religious-themed tours, that could make the most of the island's pageantry, including its five Good Friday processions.
Another area not yet being exploited is agrotourism. "Someone is organising visits to a farm on a small scale, to see limoncello, wine and olive oil being made. But the agrotourism you get in Italy, for example, where you stay on the farm, has not yet been exploited. Perhaps the blame lies with the industry itself which has not yet approached farmers to explain the concept.
"We can do things if we put our minds to it. After all, we were able to create the whole idea of the farmhouse, which is being copied in the Hebrides - but they are using new huts and not conversions of genuine, centuries-old properties.
"There are 14 of us on the council, from hotels, diving operators, apartments... I tell you we always talk about tourism in Gozo. I believe that success in tourism translates to success for the whole economy. This is even more true in Gozo.
"We never allow self-interest to prevail. This is why the association has survived so long."