Gozo's place in marketing

I refer to the letter by Revel Barker entitled This Is Brand Malta (July 15).

Contrary to the categorical statement that "The first deterrent has always been the MTA's negative approach to Gozo... Promotional advertising uses pictures from the sister island but doesn't even mention the place in copy"; the Malta Tourism Authority's own logo which is inserted in each and every promotional advert mentions "Malta - Gozo - Comino" rather than just Malta.

The promotion of Gozo by the MTA is also supported by a dedicated Gozo Segment in the Marketing Directorate. The marketing of Gozo is done, not only through direct advertising, but also through PR and direct marketing in specialised publications and magazines, as well as the promotion of various familiarisation visits by foreign journalists and travel agents to Gozo. Another categorical statement by the correspondent was, "How did the MTA occupy itself (and the police) last summer? They turned tourists off seats while they dined in the open air at 'tourist resorts'." Again, it must be stated that the MTA is all in favour of al fresco dining as it believes that this is part of our tourism product. The MTA, together with other authorities, is however adamant on ensuring that this "al fresco" dining experience is not marred by illegalities.

To tolerate illegalities by the few would create an unlevel playing field in relation to other law-abiding operators, as well as a disturbance to residents and pedestrians.