Updated - Adds MTA reaction - A decline of 15% in the number of visitors from Italy to Malta in the third quarter of this year virtually wiped out the gains made from the UK, German and French markets, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said today.
Chairman Tony Zahra, speaking at the announcement of third quarter results for the hotel industry, he said the average achieved room rates continued to improve, however total accommodation revenue this year to date remained below the levels registered in 2007-2008.
"As a result of subdued revenue and higher operating costs, the results for the first nine months of 2011 show that gross operating profits in 2011 remain below the levels reached in 2007 and 2008 in each of the three main hotel categories," the MHRA said in a statement.
Mr Zahra, referring to this winter, warned that an 11% drop in airline seat capacity this year and an increasingly sluggish market may translate in a drop of 54,000 arrivals, or over 400,000 bed nights over this winter.
He noted that because of economic pressures, UK travellers are resorting to one holiday a year and the UK outbound market was down by 9%.
The austerity measures announced by the Italian government left Italians concerned about their jobs.
In France, overall demand was weak. Air Malta had reduced its capacity from Paris as of this winter. The announcement of a new Air France service from Toulouse was welcome and could help make up for some of the seats dropped by Air Malta.
Mr Zahra also expressed concern over the 20% unemployment in Spain and said there was a drop in charter flights from that country.
In Germany, he said, the situation was a bit more positive but the strong demand seen at the beginning of this winter had since slowed down.
The MHRA said that tourist arrivals in the third quarter of this year were up 0.3% over the same period last year, but guest nights decreased by 0.9%.
MTA REACTION
In a reaction, the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) said it welcomes the statistics published in the MHRA report, which statistics confirm the positive trends - already highlighted in the monthly figures published by the NSO - that the tourism industry has been experiencing during this year.
"2011 will be another record year in terms of arrivals, guest nights and tourist expenditure, whilst all indications point towards the total number of tourists visiting our islands this year will be very close to the 1.4 million mark. This comes just one year after reaching the record 1.3million figure last year."
It said the MHRA report shows that the hotel industry is benefiting substantially from these positive results. In the nine months reviewed in this report, hotel occupancy, accommodation income and gross operating profits have continued to register the upward trend of the last three years.
These results were achieved despite a decrease in seat capacity to Malta. During the summer months seat capacity reduced by 6% but total arrivals continued to increase in all months apart from August which registered a minimal drop. The increases came about as a result of intense marketing efforts carried out by the Malta Tourism Authority, aimed at increasing the load factors on the aircrafts. This trend has continued in October and November. Every effort is being made to fill in all the available capacity this winter so as to ensure that, although a drop in seat capacity is being experienced, the drop in tourist arrivals will be contained.
Efforts to ensure that the seat capacity to Malta in 2012 remains stable are continuing. The recent announcement by Air France that they will start operating to Malta from Toulouse as from next April is very welcome news. Discussions with other airlines are also continuing.
"The international climate is very tough, but if all stakeholders continue to work together as they have done over the past few years, the challenges we will face can be addressed," the MTA said.