Good value for money in tourism a must given economic problems

The soaring price of fuel risks making a number of air routes longer than three flying hours unprofitable, Mario de Marco, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, said yesterday.

He warned that the current crunch is having its toll and will affect the spending power of many potential tourists. In addition, the British economy, Malta's most important market in terms of tourist arrivals, seems to be heading towards a recession.

"All these factors can, especially if we are not careful in ensuring that we give tourists good value for money, have an impact on tourist arrivals," de Marco said.

He was opening the Third European Conference of Southern European Tourism Trade Unions with the theme Implementation Of The Lisbon Strategy In Mediterranean Area: Equal Opportunity And Qualification And Skills Passport In Hospitality Sector.

Dr de Marco noted that the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the industry's main lobby group, claims that travel and tourism is the world's biggest industry in terms of its contribution to global GDP and employment. It forecasts that global travel and tourism will account for $5.9 trillion in economic activity in 2008, or about 10 per cent of global GDP, employing 238 million people and this is expected to climb to 296 million.

Malta had a record year in tourism last year, registering 1,243,510 tourists. This was an increase of 119,275 tourists on 2006, or 10.6 per cent. They spent 11,016,993 nights here, that is or 355,609 more nights than in the previous year. Between them, they spent €1,058 million. A total of 488,170 passengers -80,124 more than in 2006 - visited aboard cruise liners.

He noted that results for the first four months of this year indicate a record growth in arrivals. With 316,581 tourists visiting between January and April, Malta saw an increase of 41,227 tourists, or a 15 per cent rise, on the same period last year, which already showed substantial progress on that of 2006.

Such results, Dr de Marco said, would never have been possible were it not for the dedicated and hard working employees in the sector.

Development depends on competitiveness and the government intends to take all necessary measures to remain competitive. This included more investment in the education and training of human resources, which, ultimately, "is our most important resource if we are to compete with other destinations in this global market and industry".

Dr de Marco noted that the profile of the workforce in the tourism sector is changing and traced the initiatives taken to make this possible.

Such initiatives have resulted in a trained workforce in the tourism sector. This also contributed towards a record number of employees in the sector in August last year, which is the tourism peak month for the year. Figures for last August show that 19,186 persons were employed in hotels and restaurants, of whom 10,272 were working full-time and 5,494 were working part-time as a primary job. This employment figure shows an increase of about 1000 jobs over the same month in 2006.