The international financial and economic crisis is having its effect on Malta’s tourism industry, Mario de Marco, the parliamentary secretary for tourism said in a statement.
Referring to the January tourism figures released by National Statistics Office this morning, Dr de Marco said that the tourism performance Malta has witnessed over the last three months coincided with the recession which has gripped the economies of the island’s core markets.
The NSO said that some 51,643 tourists came to Malta in January, 19.1 per cent less than in the same month last year. The number was, however, similar to the number of arrivals in January 2007.
Dr de Marco said the current tourism performance was also due in part to a drop in seat capacity by airlines this winter.
According to the Official Airline Guide, there were 83,000 fewer flights offered by airlines within the EU this winter than in the winter of 2007/2008. Malta suffered as well in this regard with the loss of Cologne & Stuttgart, Bremen & Valencia, and Milan (Malpensa) routes by Germanwings, Ryanair and Alitalia respectively.
The situation related to the drop in seat capacity would start to be phased out around April with the new routes of Bristol and Newcastle being by Ryanair and Easyjet, respectively at that time. Edinburgh will be introduced by Ryanair in June.
The parliamentary secretary emphasised the need to evaluate the current results in the light of the two successive record years, namely 2007 and 2008 respectively.
“In effect we are eating into 2008's gain and retrenching to 2007 levels, given that the number of tourist arrivals in January 09 is 12,000 less than January 08 but in the same levels as those reached in January 2007.
“In so far as total nights in January spent by tourists are concerned, the drop compared with January 2008 is of 232,000 nights (-4.6 percent), but there is in effect a gain of 39,031 nights (+8.75 percent) over January 2007.
“This shows that, notwithstanding the current difficulties, the industry is still holding its ground,” added Dr de Marco.
He reemphasised the need for government and all stakeholders to work together to weather the storm.
“Our collective energies are to continue to be focused on having an effective overseas marketing campaign; making the most of our existent routes; establishing, where feasible, new routes; and working on an innovative product offer with an emphasis on the quality of service and good value for money.”
(See also: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090226/local/fewer-tourists-visit-last-january)