The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association today welcomed the festival hosted by DJ AnnieMac over the past weekend, despite complaints after one of the concerts was held on Maundy Thursday in Qawra.

In a statement, the MHRA said it was  confident that this year the tourism sector would maintain the growth achieved over the past years and it expected 2015 to be another record year.

“Significantly this year a spread into the shoulder and winter months of tourism flows is being experienced as a result of efforts to address the seasonality challenge,” the association said.

“Following the success in developing a successful core season for the tourism sector, MHRA is pleased to note that efforts to address the seasonality factor are also reaping positive results,”  Association president Tony Zahra said.

“MHRA has consistently advocated for the importance of organising events throughout the whole year to enhance the experience of the visitor to our islands and also to develop new markets, hence creating a more versatile type of tourist.

“The festival hosted by DJ Annie Mac and organised over the past weekend clearly demonstrated that such events generate a positive boost to the tourism sector specifically in the entertainment, hospitality and catering segment during the quite shoulder months. The economic boost generated as a result was also felt by other business. This was achieved thanks to working collaboration between the private sector stakeholders with the support of the MTA, ministry and other parties.”

The association called on the authorities to pursue the strategy to further incentivise the organisation of similar entertainment events and others related to sport and culture spread throughout the year while improving on logistics to ensure better security, less disruption in the neighbourhood of such events and a quality approach to ensure sustainable tourism growth across our islands.