A Labour government will focus on exploiting markets outside Europe and try to attract new airlines from non-European destinations, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.
He said eastern European and north and central African countries had huge potential and remained largely untapped markets.
Dr Muscat was speaking during a visit to Malta International Airport where he toured the duty free shops and the airport management offices.
He said his Government would work within the context of the EU framework to open up its tourism product. Whereas low-cost carriers came from predominantly European countries, other carriers could bring more tourists from different countries.
Describing the MIA as an “essential partner”, Dr Muscat said his Government would seek synergy between the airport, the Malta Tourism Authority and other tourism stakeholders.
On the national airline, Dr Muscat said this was a strategic part of Malta’s tourism product and it was crucial that the airline continued to grow.
Dr Muscat also spoke about facilitating the granting of visas to visit Malta and simplifying further the bureaucratic process. While admitting that the country had little room for manoeuvre due to EU rules, he said procedures used in other EU countries could be adopted to simplify the granting of visas.
MIA deputy CEO Austin Calleja said during the past two years the company had taken a series of initiatives to boost tourist arrivals such as the removal of landing fees and parking fees in winter.
Moreover, the company had worked hard to introduce new routes and destinations.
Mr Calleja said the company invested heavily in the airport in the past 10 years – around €42 million and another €18 million on the Sky Parks business centre.
He said the biggest challenges were posed by the recession faced by two of its core markets, the UK and Italy.
Earlier yesterday, Dr Muscat paid a courtesy visit to the Qawra Palace Hotel where he met management and employees.
He said his Government would place particular emphasis on the need to upgrade the country’s overall infrastructure and its tourism product.
He acknowledged that Malta was doing well in terms of record tourism arrivals but said that, other than the numbers, particular attention had to be given to the level of profitability and how much these tourists spent in Malta.
He said Labour’s energy plan, which would reduce electricity rates by 25 per cent and water by five per cent, would make the hospitality industry more competitive and more profitable.
Dr Muscat also spoke about Labour’s plan to introduce action groups to take responsibility for the constant upkeep of Malta’s tourism zones and promised to retain the budget measure offering hoteliers tax incentives for embellishment projects.
Dr Muscat’s day started on the 6am Gozo ferry where he met Gozitan commuters travelling to Malta.