Michelle Buttigieg, the representative of the Malta Tourism Authority in the United States, is being paid €60,998 per year, it was revealed in Parliament today.

Ms Buttigieg  is a partner of the Prime Minster’s wife, Michelle Muscat, in an overseas jewellery business venture.

Michelle Buttigieg

She was appointed as Malta Tourism Authority representative on March 3, 2014. 

In terms of the contract, Ms Buttigieg's role is to promote the Maltese islands, target markets and identify potential clients for the Maltese islands primarily in high yield sectors such as meetings, conventions and high end leisure groups as well as the tour operator market and fully inclusive tours.

Apart from her retainer fee, Ms Buttigieg also gets a petty cash float of $2,000, four air tickets (economy class) for commercial visits, hotel accommodation and meals during commercial visits.

The contract was tabled in Parliament following a question by Nationalist MP Antoine Borg after the the Information and Data Protection Commissioner had ruled that it should be made public. The decision was made following a request by the Times of Malta. The Malta Tourism Authority had refused to give the information to this newspaper.

“Although in terms of her service contract, Ms Buttigieg is not an employee of the MTA but is only offering her service on a self-employed basis as a sole trader, since the salary attached to her engagement as a marketing and promotion representative of the Maltese islands is paid out of public funds, the Commissioner considers that, in this specific case, the public interest in better served by providing the applicant [the Times of Malta] with full access of the requested document,” Data Commissioner Saviour Cachia had said in his decision.
 
In its justification for keeping the contract under wraps, the MTA had claimed 'trade secrets” and “information of a commercial nature”. Both these reasons were deemed by Mr Cachia to be unjustified. 

Ms Buttigieg, a Gozitan who has long lived in New York, was appointed as MTA representative soon after Labour’s victory at the polls in 2013.

Her business venture with Mrs Muscat, known as the Buttardi Jewellery Collection, has been ongoing for a number of years, with Ms Muscat acting as the company’s head of the European sales office. 

TOURISM MINISTER EXPLAINS

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis explained that Ms Buttigieg is not an envoy or an employee of the MTA but a professional who provides services to the Authority. Therefore the MTA does not have additional expenses in tax, social security or insurance..

The MTA’s representatives in The Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Spain and Scandinavia, among others, were all paid substantially more than Ms Buttigieg despite the fact that costs in the US were higher, especially in New York, he said.

The MTA would spend considerably more if it was to deploy somebody from Malta to do the work being performed by Ms Buttigieg.

Dr Zammit Lewis said that the MTA last had an office in New York in 2004 at employment costs of €7,300 a month, 40% more than the present.

The appointment of Ms Buttigieg had had an impact in the American tourism community and the office she manages won a Silver Award in three categories at the Annual Travvy Awards – for Best Luxury Destination Europe, Best Luxury Destination Overall and Most Innovative Tourism Executive Europe, which was given to Ms Buttiġieġ.

Tourism arrivals from the United States last year were 33.4% higher than in 2013.