Malta is currently more expensive for British tourists than Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal, Greece and Dubai, the Opposition spokesman for tourism said this morning.
In a reaction, the Secretariat for Tourism said that Malta was actually becoming more competitive than many destinations for Britons.
PL spokesman Gavin Gulia said that a typical UK holidaymaker in Malta will now spend GBP 68.97 per day whereas the same package will cost GBP 42.15 per day in Spain, a staggering 40% less.
"It is no wonder that, whereas welcome increases have been registered from the Italian and Spanish markets, the number of UK tourists visiting Malta in 2010 declined by 9% compared to 2008 and by a staggering 14% compared to 2005," Dr Gulia said.
He said the figures were being quoted from the Holiday Costs Barometer issued by the UK Post Office. Otherwise known as the ‘cost of living in resort’ index, this exercise is keenly followed by prospective UK holidaymakers particularly at a time when the weakness of the UK Pound against the Euro has also to be factored in, Dr Gulia said.
Dr Gulia said the British press is keenly following these developments.
The Daily Express (16th April) announced on its front page that a typical UK family will spend GBP 713 more per week in a Euro holiday destination than three years ago. “One UK Pound will get you 25% less Euros now than it did in 2007”.
Whereas the appreciation of the Euro against the UK Pound affects all destinations that use the Euro equally, the rate of inflation in each euro area makes the difference, Dr Gulia said.
"Unless careful attention is given to the UK market, Malta risks a continuing downslide in tourist arrivals from this core market to be impacted further by Air Malta’s cutback in capacity since Air Malta was traditionally the main seat capacity provider between the UK and Malta on both legacy and charter flights"
MALTA BECOMING MORE COMPETITIVE - SECRETARIAT
In a reaction, the Secretariat for Tourism said that according to Holiday Cost Barometer, Malta had become more attractive to British tourists because its ranking had moved to sixth, from eighth in the previous year.
This meant it was more competitive than competing destinations including Turkey, Cyprus, Croatia, Egypt, France and Italy.
This was reflected in the records which the tourism industry in Malta was breaking. Government investment to improve the product and accessibility were bearing fruit. Three of the past four years were record years.
Dr Gulia had ignored all this in his statement, the secretariat observed.
He made no reference to the fact that the UK market had shifted to low cost, whereas in the past it was dependant on tour operators. By how much would the UK tourism market for Malta decrease if one removed low cost air services, as the opposition had suggested?
In 2010, the number of Britons visiting Malta rose by 4.2% even though the number of Britons going abroad fell 6.3%, the secretariat observed.