Balluta Bay in St Julian’s.

The Malta Tourism Society has thanked outgoing Malta Tourism Authority CEO Josef Formosa Gauci for his continuous efforts to improve the tourism activity in Malta and Gozo.

Mr Formosa Gauci focused on the two primary factors for success in the tourism industry today: accessibility and product development. Tourism is an activity that needs continuity and stability and the MTS augurs that the incoming CEO will maintain the momentum created over the last six years and add value to another aspect of tourism - the socio-cultural dimension.

With preparations for activities to mark the European Capital of Culture in Malta in 2018, it is essential to inculcate a sense of community spirit and involvement which should set the foundations for an even stronger basis for tourism as a more holistic and diverse socio-cultural activity.

“The mitigation of seasonality in tourism in Malta and Gozo has seen improvements over the past decade and we are now seeing more positive statistics that have reduced the harsh peaks and troughs that dominated the local markets in the past,” said the society.

“The development of a more community-based tourism approach and the opportunity of showcasing ‘the other Malta and Gozo’ to the visitor who truly wants to be here will help improve the quality rather than the quantity of that activity.

To reach these goals the industry and the community need to work together under the guidance of strong national strategies and policies developed by government as well as the facilitation of an authority of local councils who listens to the stakeholders and acts upon their suggestions.