Restaurant sales and profits declined over the past three years as the number of local patrons dropped, according to owners.
All menus are written in English and, interestingly, there are more menus in Italian (27 per cent) than in Maltese (18 per cent)
Sales went down by 44 per cent and profits dropped by 60 per cent, a survey published by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association showed.
The survey, carried out among 44 establishments, found the problems in profitability were also affected by high energy and labour costs, market saturation and poor access to bank financing and EU funding.
Nine out of 10 respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that unfair competition from unregulated practices or black market labour also caused serious problems.
Conducted jointly with the Malta Tourism Authority, the study also found that all menus were written in English and, interestingly, there were more menus in Italian (27 per cent) than in Maltese (18 per cent). This was listed as an “issue to be addressed” by both the MHRA and the MTA. Nine out of 10 respondents claimed to have enough knowledge to cater for customers with food allergies but only one fifth strongly agreed with the statement “I have specific meals for customers having food allergies”.
“Vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free are the top three food allergies/preferences catered for by respondents,” according to the survey. The survey delved into marketing techniques, finding that restaurants preferred to develop their own web-sites and social media sites rather than advertise in traditional media like news-papers and TV.
According to the survey’s conclusions, restaurant owners should introduce a “marketing planning and budgeting mentality”, which was found to be largely absent.
On average, respondents said they employed six full-time and 11 part-time workers and the vast majority reported a high staff turnover.
One in five employees are foreign, mostly Bulgarians, British, Italians or Hungarians, and 81.8 per cent of respondents said they disagreed or strongly disagreed that is very easy to find people of Maltese origin willing to work in restaurants.
The MHRA and the MTA called for the employment of locals and third country nationals, adding that educational institutions should provide more trade-oriented courses to address the reported skills shortage.
Nine out of 10 respondents said customers were increasingly opting for outdoor seating and a clear policy was required for canopy and encroachment regulations.
Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella said a committee had already been set up to look into the matter.