Hotel guests helping to preserve heritage sites

Seventeen hotels have so far joined forces in a bid to help preserve cultural heritage sites.

The scheme is an initiative of HSBC Cares For Malta's Heritage Fund and Heritage Malta, aimed at helping the tourist sector support the country's heritage sites.

Under the HSBC hotel heritage sponsorship scheme, guests of participating hotels are asked to make a contribution of one euro for every night of their stay.

Each hotel is associated with a particular heritage site, such as Hagar Qim and Mnajdra temples, the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, St Paul's catacombs, in Rabat and Vilhena Palace, in Mdina. On contributing to the fund, guests receive a token bookmark featuring the sponsored site by their hotel.

The funds collected are distributed by Heritage Malta to assist in the restoration and preservation of the specific site.

"Malta has a very rich cultural heritage concentrated in a very small place and we should do our utmost to exploit it, Shaun Wallis, CEO of HSBC said.

"It is only through stakeholders pulling together that we can ensure Malta's heritage is protected. The scheme has been a success and will grow further thanks to the new hotels joining up."