Sunday, 17th May 2009 - 13:38CET
Hotels consider becoming all inclusive resorts
A number of hotels in the north are looking at the possibility of transforming their property into all-inclusive resorts, Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco said this morning.
Addressing a press conference about an initiative bringing over 1,000 German travel agents to Malta for five weeks to promote the island, Dr De Marco said the government wanted to affirm its commitment to the German market, the second most important to the local market.
It had brought over 212,000 tourists in 1999 and although the numbers dropped to 128,000 in 2003, the market was again improving and 150,000 German tourists had visited Malta last year.
Dr de Marco said this winter saw a decline in seat capacity from Germany. Ryanair cancelled its Bremen route and Germanwings dropped its twice weekly flights from two German airports. However, Air Malta would be introducing twice weekly flights to Stuttgart.
Frosch Touristik International chief executive Dietmar Gunz said that Malta’s tourism sector lacked all inclusive resorts which could attract more people to the island.
“They need to cater for that person who has €500 in his pocket and wants to come on holiday with his family without ending up short of cash,” he said.
Tourists, Mr Gunz said, wanted their holiday destinations to be more accessible, which made flights out of regional airports all the more important.
“We do not need big frequencies, but a flight a week would help us bring people,” he said.
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Comments
The main problem is that some Tour Operators A/I descriptions on their brochures is far too lax, with some clients claiming free phone calls, free coins for the use of a launderette, free coins to use the games machines etc, and we are here not talking of the odd client. When the Hotelier denies the client requests they will then start to pick at menial faults to make a claim about the Hotel and claim compensation on their return home. Some have become professionals at this game. The Tour Operator only concern is selling the holiday leaving the Hotelier having to face some of the most obnoxious "people" that one can come across within the hospitality industry.
The fact is the matter is that the money is made by the Tour Operator and not The Hotelier but it is the Hotelier who has to make do..........................
I fully endorse Mr McCarthy's comments and add that this system should be renamed All Inclusive Abuse, as a substantial number of people travelling on A/I abuse the system, hence some Hotels having to take defensive action especially within the three star sector, this includes but not limited to Clients on A/I basis giving hotel drinks away to other hotel clients on SC, BB & HB basis, some abuse the drink to an extend that varies from causing trouble to others who end up in hospital having their stomachs pump out.............
The very truth of the matter is that some clients understand value of money one they see it, let us face is some hotels sell A/I for as little or less than Lm8 (in old currency) including tax, this includes Bed, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, all the snacks they can consume and all the drinks / beverages they can consume.
cont.
The tour operators will initially pay you a supplement for the A/I upgrade and when their sales drop they will forget the signature on their contracts and come back to the hoteliers with their begging bowl to ask the hotels for special offers above those contracted and upgrade their Half Board Clients to All inclusive to help them fill their seats.
And who will be at a loss then?
I too would like to buy a Rolls Royce for €500, but I know full well that Rolls Royce will not make any profit........
The concept of an all-inclusive holiday is very good for the tourist and the travel agent, but hotel owners in Malta need to be careful before they introduce this type of holiday to their property. Mr. Attard McCarthy is perfectly correct. It is possible for tourists with a limited budget to exploit this type of holiday to the full.
I have been to the all-inclusive Royal Solaris Resort in San Jose del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. This has unlimited meals and snacks all day long, and unlimited drinks, including delicious cocktails, and a wide variety of wines day and night! This resort has 5 different restaurants – Café Solaris, Rosmarinus, Las Pergolas, Panchos, and Marcopolo. It also has free entertainment every evening with a free buffet dinner.
http://www.clubsolaris.com/premier_class/all_inclusive.php
When I asked how it was possible for this resort to make a profit I was informed that the management owned ranches and farms with all kinds of livestock, so they did not need to purchase any food from third parties! Unless Malta’s hotel owners have access to a “free” supply of food, they will not be profitable or competitive.
So there are two sides to your personal observations William.
The truth? 99.8% of these AI basis guests would spend their entire "holiday" sat by the pool or in the bar, taking the most (or mostly so, blatantly abusing) the hotel's AI system. They would not spend a cent out of AI serving times. They would definitely not spend money in surrounding bars/clubs/shops etc..
Moreover, at the slightest shortcoming from the resort's part (like for example, necessary maintenance works), they would use their travel agents to sue the resort or seek an out-of-court settlement which would provide them with enough money to cover their holiday expenses and also maybe a free holiday for 5 consecutive years thereafter...
AI? I don't think so......
Dr de Marco said this winter saw a decline in seat capacity from Germany
li bena wiehed fi 22 xahar hattu ta' warajh
Hotels catering for young families (with appropriate amenities and entertainment for toddlers/teenagers) are few and far between. In fact I actually do not know of any. All inclusive is not a must for this category of tourist, but the child-friendly facilities must be in place.
For the tourism product to be really appealing to this category, even high-street restaurants and cafeterias need to be child friendly. In Malta, parents with young kids have hardly anywhere to go that is child friendly. At most a highchair is begrudgingly offered!
25-50 year olds are the tourists with most cash to spend, and unless they have a safe and interesting places where their whole family can relax, they will continue to go to the Canary and Greek Islands,
Furthermore, some hotels need to invest in 18-30 year olds in the form of all inclusive Club-Med/Citta del Mare type resorts. Two ideal locations are crying out load for this investment, these being the White Rocks and Hal Ferh Complexes.