The government will soon be issuing a call for investment of at least €15 million in the Malta Film Studios, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said this evening.

This call for expression of interest in the facilities at Rinella will be launched in the coming weeks, Dr Zammit Lewis told an audience at a Gvern li Jisma consultation meeting at Castille.

This request for proposals will be aimed to support a cluster of services in the film industry. It will not be limited to the water tanks on site but will also include indoor facilities, the minister said.

During his introductory address, the minister also referred to the ongoing discussion about Air Malta’s future. The solution, he said, was not going to be easy.

When asked for reassurance that Air Malta would be retaining its connection with Heathrow, Dr Zammit Lewis said the national airline was not ready to give up its routes to Heathrow, however, discussions were still ongoing. By the end of June, the government would have a draft business plan about the future of the airline.

STRONG TOURISM PERFORMANCE IN MAY

Earlier, he described 2015 as a strong year, where Malta saw more than 1.8 million tourist arrivals, outperforming forecasts. This year, the tourism sector was superseding 2015 figures, and although official figures were not yet out, May saw an additional 14,000 tourists when compared to the same month last time. The same growth was expected for June, meaning that for the first time the 200,000 figure for the month of June would have been superseded.

Meanwhile, this year the island was expecting some 700,000 cruise line passengers, who are not added to the total arrival of tourists.

Speaking at the same event, Gozo Minister Anton Refalo noted that during the first quarter of this year, tourists who spent one night or more in Gozo had also increased - by 58 per cent – when compared to the same period last year.