Tourism industry front liners will be equipped with tools enabling them to inform the visitors they meet on a daily basis about Malta’s rich culture and history as part of a project spearheaded by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.
The association has been awarded EU funding for a project – Cultural and Heritage Awareness for Front Liners – aimed at raising awareness on the islands’ cultural, historic and artistic heritage within the tourism industry.
MHRA president George Micallef said the €215,000 project stemmed from a need brought about by a change in trends and tourist profiles. In past years, Malta saw a substantial increase in independent and adventurous travellers. As these tourists do not rely on organised travel packages, they depend on information provided by front liners and hotel staff.
“The MHRA felt it necessary to strengthen the knowledge of all front liners in the tourism industry about Malta’s main cultural and heritage assets,” Mr Micallef said.
The association has been working on the project since 2007 and hopes this is the first in a chain of similar projects. More than 420 front line staff will benefit from the project over a period of 18 months, till March 2013.
The 30 programmes within the project, each with an itinerary of seven visits to key cultural and heritage sites in Malta and Gozo, will start with a briefing highlighting the key points to look out for during the visit. At the end of the visit, a debriefing session would be conducted to discuss the content of the visit, expectations and recommendations.
Association CEO George Schembri said the project, being carried out in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority and the Institute of Tourism Studies, would enhance quality service and address competitiveness.
Describing the initiative as an “excellent project”, Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco pointed out that other destinations in the world had assets similar to those of Malta, like good climate and clean sea water. It was important to emphasise the island’s selling point and winning formula: a combination of culture, historical heritage, accessibility, good climate and clean water.
Dr de Marco said travelling patterns had changed from week-long or fortnight holidays to four- or 10-day stays. Although the majority of visitors were British, other nationalities were on the increase, including from the Italian, German, French, Scandinavian and Spanish markets.
Although tourism patterns were changing, Malta had managed to retain sustainable tourism and had suffered the least in terms of seasonal tourism among Mediterranean countries.
Asked about this year’s tourist influx, Mr Schembri said occupancy had risen by 23 per cent in the first three months when compared to 2010 while spending grew by six per cent.
“This year’s predictions are positive but this depends on seat capacity. We wish Air Malta’s issue is resolved as soon as possible because 60 per cent of our inbound tourists come through Air Malta,” he added.
Dr de Marco believed the increase in occupancy would level out because new routes had started in May last year.
He said the front liners project complemented another EU-funded project, ADVANCE. This €3 million project trains over 1,000 managers and supervisors among others.
More information can be obtained on 2131 8133.