Gozo’s popularity among the Maltese during the feast of Santa Marija took a knock this year due to works on the roads leading to Ċirkewwa and the Xewkija to Victoria network, according to the Gozo Tourism Association.
Due to infrastructural works recently, demand for Gozo has dropped
“From the feedback we are receiving from various sectors, especially from restaurants, it seems the domestic demand could be better,” said association CEO Joe Muscat.
“Due to infrastructural works in recent months, the demand for Gozo among Maltese dropped, affecting various sectors of our tourism industry,” he added.
The association had always pressed and is still pressing for better access to reach Gozo and on the island, as well as to upgrade the tourism product.
He said works being carried out on the main road leading to Ċirkewwa and the passenger terminal on the Malta side, the major works on the main road from Xewkija to Victoria and the works in progress at the Żewwieqa waterfront were most welcome.
However, they had caused a lot of inconvenience, not just to Maltese and Gozitans who frequently commuted between the two islands, but also to foreign visitors.
Mr Muscat said it was also important to keep in mind another trend when analysing the situation: the Maltese who owned a second property on Gozo.
“Domestic tourism now has another facet, which, although not captured in figures, is affecting Gozo Channel figures and contributing positively towards the Gozitan economy.”
Mr Muscat lamented that Gozo was, unfortunately, sometimes wrongly perceived as an “expensive destination”.
“This sends out the wrong message to both the domestic and the foreign market. It falls squarely on the Gozitan establishments to defy this perception,” he said.
“As an association, we never tire to advocate that it’s up to the Gozitan tourism industry to respect its product at all times by giving promised services at reasonable and fair prices.”
In today’s cut-throat competition, the Gozitan tourism sector should focus on the concept of value for money because all customers were becoming more value-conscious.
“All Gozitan stakeholders should work together to keep branding Gozo as a value-for-money destination, especially within the present global economic scenario,” he added.
Car commuters waiting to cross to Gozo on the ferry told Kristina Chetcuti how they braved the traffic yesterday.
Jason Caruana, 29, from Birżebbuġa
“The traffic in Mellieħa is ridiculous. It took me one-and-a-half-hours from home to get here – 45 minutes of that time was spent in Mellieħa. I can’t understand why the roadworks are being done now in summer.”
Jean Pierre Spiteri, 26, from Għargħur
“From Għargħur to Ċirkewwa it took me a full one-and-a-half hours. And in Mellieħa I was stuck behind a bus and everything else.”
Vince Debono, 61, from Żabbar
“We found traffic the minute we got to Mistra, right up to Mellieħa.” It took him and his wife one-and-a-half hours to get to Ċirkewwa, from Żabbar. Although they were aware of the traffic problems they were not deterred.
John Borg, 49, from Qormi
“It took us only half an hour from Qormi to Ċirkewwa, although driving a quad helped. We only came across traffic in Mellieħa, due to the road works.” Mr Borg and his wife were travelling up to Gozo for the afternoon.
Carl Coleiro, 43, from Marsascala
Travelling up to Gozo with his family and young children, Mr Coleiro said: “We’ve got stuck in traffic the minute we reached Xemxija.”
Michel Saliba, 29, from Gozo
Gozitan Mr Saliba and his girlfriend came to Malta for a drive early yesterday morning “We do things the other way round,” they joked. On the way back to the ferry, however, they got stuck on Mellieħa hill.