€22.2m from EU funds for tourism

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco announced on Wednesday that the managing authority of the structural funds 2007-2013 had approved a number of projects, worth millions of euros, to enhance the Malta tourism product. The Malta Tourism Authority, on the other hand, had approved some 36 private projects worth €150m which would increase the number of beds by about 3,500.

Introducing the debate on the authority's estimates for 2008, Dr de Marco said the EU-funded projects include the rehabilitation of the Qawra and Sliema foreshores (€3.8m), which would also include another sandy beach in Qawra. Also earmarked is a project for St Paul's Bay, Qawra and Pembroke (€12m). Other approved projects involve training of human resources (€3.8m) and a visitors' and exhibition centre at St John's Co-Cathedral (€13.6m).

He announced that Conference and Incentive travel was also an important component of the tourism scenario with 43,000 room nights being sold in the first quarter of this year. This meant an increase of 66 per cent on the first quarter of 2007.

In 2007, language schools took 86,539 people, an increase of 31 per cent.

Gozo was also marketed as a unique and particular destination.

Cruise liners passengers numbered 488,170, an increase of 80,000, contributing €30m or €77 per passenger to the national economy. The target for 2008 is 500,000.

This type of tourism was important, Dr de Marco said. Apart from contributing to the economy, passengers are also encouraged to visit Malta for a longer stay at a later date. The government was encouraging cruise operators to start and finish their cruise in Malta so that passengers could spend an extra night at the beginning or the end of their cruise.

Plans are also in hand to have a big buoy at Xlendi so that Gozo would also have part of the lucrative cruise ship market.

Dr de Marco said that it was important to continue investing in the product. He would like to see the development of village and rural tourism. There should be better management of bays, more pedestrianisation, and better road and directional signs.

In January, there were more than 10,000 full time and 8,000 part-time employees in the sector, a total increase of over 1,200 or seven per cent. It was important to continue improving their conditions of work.

With Malta's entry into Schengen, it became more difficult for visitors who needed a visa, particularly those from China and Russia, to visit Mata. These were important markets for Malta and steps were being taken to cut down on delays.

Dr de Marco said Malta must remain competitive and warned against increasing prices unduly.

Opposition spokesman on Tourism Evarist Bartolo proposed a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee for a deeper analysis of the MTA's accounts. He said that the opposition wanted to work with the government on tourism.

Mr Bartolo said that the authority concluded the year with a deficit of Lm2.6 million. How would it solve this deficit? The authority already had Lm500,000 less than last year for marketing. Was the MTA currently using the creditors' money to operate? A serious audit of the amount of money the authority needed to operate should be carried out. In authorities such as the MTA, it was easy to have conflicts of interest and therefore, there had to be a clear and transparent system of how the public funds in the sector were spent.

He asked what was the MTA's relation with MediaConsulta going to be. While there had initially been great euphoria for this company to be chosen, it disappointed in the quality of material and in the exaggerated rates it charged for adverts in foreign newspapers. But it seemed that the MTA's relationship with it was being revived.

On EU funds, Mr Bartolo asked if applications being made by Malta were realistic and if they had been intended to be used for the purposes declared. Were the EU Interreg funds in the 2007 budget, none of which were used, to be carried over to this year?

He pointed out that when it came to capital expenditure, €5.8 million had been allocated for structural funds. But none were spent last year. He said that it was important that projects that had to be carried out were carried out on time for funds not to be lost. This was an issue which the ministry and the MTA had to look into together.

Mr Bartolo asked what was happening with low cost carriers. All airlines, he said, were facing big problems because of the rising cost of oil, which was wiping out their profit. What was being negotiated with Ryanair and what type of subsidy was expected? He emphasised he was not asking for this information to be made public.

Was the MTA satisfied by its website? Had it overcome the problems it had faced in the initial months? Was it satisfied by the number of bookings being generated? Was the website being used in the most effective and efficient manner?

Mr Bartolo said that the MTA was burdening itself with expenses and obligations to embark on projects without knowing if it would be able to keep maintaining them.

Mr Bartolo noted that Malta had fallen behind when it came to yacht marinas. If a look was taken at what was available in the Mediterranean, the country's 1,600 berths were shameful especially when Malta had been saying that it wanted to become a yachting centre for the past 10 years.

Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono said that measures taken to offset seasonality problems, which heavily affected employment in the sector, had already yielded results.

The Gozo situation as far as tourism was concerned is in a much better situation than years ago. This was the result of the formation of the Gozo Tourism Association and its collaboration with the ministry and all stakeholders. One of the first projects undertaken as a result was the diving sector.

The Minister said that there has been an increase of 39 per cent in the number of passengers and 125 per cent in the numnber of vehicles carried over the past 10 years. Figures for the first four months of this year show an increase of 20,000 passengers and more than 73,000 vehicles over the same period last year which was also a record. This was also the result of massive promotional campaigns.

Life was made easier by the building of the new Mgarr terminal, which increased safety and efficiency. This belied Opposition claims that this terminal was not needed.

Employment in the tourist sector in Gozo was important and the lack of trained staff was addressed. The EU-funded new Institute of Tourism Studies, known as the Training Hotel, would be complete by the next scholastic year.

Last year, 1,063 were employed in hotels and restaurants in Gozo. This represented an increase of 50 per cent over 1999. Training was on-going through courses by the MTA and the ETC.

Mrs Debono said that great improvements were made in the conservation of heritage sites. The ministry continued to give great importance to the Citadella and Ggantija Temples. Bays and coastal and rural areas will continue to be developed through a conservation plan from San Blas Bay to Wied l-Għasri. Initiatives by local councils also helped to make their localities better known.

Profs Anthony Zammit (MLP) said that the tourists that come to Malta were a mixed group who all wanted that something extra while on holiday.

He said that he favoured village tourism. Taking Żebbuġ as an example, he said that one could learn much about baroque architecture if one visited the 11 wayside chapels, even if some were dilapidated.

Malta being in the middle of the Mediterranean it also has a medical tourism market from both the north and the south. Dubai is already exploiting the situation. The Arabs used to go to Switzerland, Germany and the UK but they would prefer to come to Malta.

Labour MP Owen Bonnici said that the time of amateurism in tourism are over. MTA's dilemma stems from the fact that while it would not duplicate what was being done by other entities, at the same time it should be the promoter to see that certain works are carried out, like road improvements in tourist centres. He said that certain standards and regulations must be improved upon and observed.

Tourism in Malta's south is dead, he said. The only hotel in Marsascala has closed down and gone are the days when this area boasted of tourism. Today, only internal tourism exists and restaurants open only on weekends.

The way the government was acting in the face of the situation gave the impression to people in this area that they had no potential to offer the tourism industry.

Labour MP Joseph Cuschieri said the new parliamentary secretary was doing his best to correct the mistakes of his predecessors and, Mr Cuschieri hoped, such mistakes would not be repeated. He also hoped the sector would not become political football and that the government would work hand in hand with the opposition for the sake of workers and stakeholders.

Winding up the debate, Dr de Marco said the government was committed to shoulder the MTA's deficit. He said the authority's marketing budget for next year amounted to Lm8.7 million, up from Lm6.9 million in 2006 and Lm7.1 million in 2007.

The MTA's relationship with MediaConsulta, he said, was new and should improve in time. The MTA and MediaConsulta were in constant contact to understand each other better and work together. The MTA also had the right to purchase adverts in foreign newspapers itself if it found rates better than those obtained by MediaConsulta.

Dr de Marco said that an EU unit to better tap European funds already existed within the Office of the Prime Minister and an employee was specifically servicing the authority.

The unspent funds allocated under Interreg, he said, were to be carried forward to this year.

The MTA's website had received 13,000 unique visits daily. There had been teething troubles in the beginning and not many bookings were made through the website. But more than a booking website this was an information portal. As such, it was serving its purpose and leading visitors to other booking portals.

He said that the authority was working to enable its information to be transferred to PDAs. He also agreed on the need for more yacht marinas.

The MTA, he said, wanted to create local tourism development plans to see what were the best places for tourism purposes in each locality. Tourists should be encouraged to visit villages. The authority should continue working on health tourism, where services offered in Malta were excellent.

Dr de Marco pointed out that through SmartCity, major investment, including a hotel was being undertaken in the south.

Malta needed to continue increasing the number of tourists from different countries. An increase was registered in the number of Spanish, Italian and German tourists. Malta wanted to retain the British market but 65 per cent of its tourists were coming from the continent and they had to be assisted to continue coming here.

The MTA's estimates were approved after a division with the opposition voting against.