It will be cheaper to travel to Gozo in winter for Maltese overnighting as they will pay the same ferry price as Gozitans.
The unemployed could help in the ‘beautification’ of the sister island
This is one of the Budget measures targeting Gozo intended to encourage domestic tourism in the shoulder months of November to February.
Finance Minister Tonio Fenech said Maltese travellers who spent at least one night in a licensed accommodation establishment will pay the Gozitan fare of €1.15 instead of €4.65. Travellers making the trip with their car will pay €8.15 instead of €15.70.
The measure is expected to cost the Government €200,000.
A similar scheme in the past linked with restaurants had contributed to an increase in the number of passengers and cars that visited Gozo.
The discount schemes had allowed passengers to travel at reduced rates, with the reduced tickets refunded in full from restaurants and hotels.
Tourism operators in Gozo will also benefit from a change in the licence regime for farmhouses and flats, which has long been a contentious issue for Gozitan businessmen.
Official statistics do not include self-catering establishments such as farmhouses and apartments but in Gozo they supply more beds than hotels, making them an important mainstay of the Gozi-tan economy.
The Budget corrected an anomaly by which the licence fee differentiated between establishments that catered for foreigners and others that catered for Maltese.
Establishments that rented property to foreigners paid a much higher rate but they were undercut by the other establishments that illicitly took bookings also from foreigners.
The distinction was removed and the new lower licence rates across the board mean the Government will lose some €250,000 in revenue. The minister said the money could be used by the operators to improve their establishments and services offered.
As part of the Government’s drive to create jobs in Gozo the minister said a business centre will be developed to encourage companies in the financial services sector, research and IT, to open shop there.
With October unemployment in Gozo reaching 711 according to figures released by the National Statistics Office – an increase of 27 in one year – the Government will move to encourage the jobless to get training.
Without giving much detail on how the scheme will work, Mr Fenech said the Employment and Training Corporation will help with the placement of unemployed people in jobs for training purposes.
He said the unemployed could help in the “beautification” of Gozo by contributing to the various works undertaken across the island. Private companies could also participate in the scheme by training people on the job.
Mr Fenech said the scheme will benefit some 200 people, costing public coffers €1.1 million.
The Government was committed to continue transferring some of the services offered by its departments and authorities to Gozo, creating more jobs on the island.
A local employment development unit will be created in Gozo to bring together the work done by Malta Enterprise, the ETC and the Gozo Ministry.
On the social front, Mr Fenech said the services at the Gozo hospital will be extended to include a unit for dementia patients and a half-way house for mental health patients. These will complement the cancer care that was started in Gozo this year.
The Government will also build a night shelter for the elderly and open a regional child development centre in Victoria.
The child centre will offer services to children in hospital and educational services for those with specific difficulties.
Mr Fenech added that permits for the reconstruction of the Marsalforn breakwater should be issued next year. He pledged that works on the Marsalforn and Xlendi waterfronts will start next year and work on the slipways and dry standing area for boats at Mġarr will be finished.