Tourist arrivals last month reached record levels, exceeding the total registered in November last year when Malta experienced a large influx of foreign delegations in connection with the Commonwealth and migration summits.
This was stated by Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis during the inauguration of anew sound proofing and air conditioning systems in parts of the Mediterranean Conference Centre.
“We have won the seasonality battle as Malta is attracting large volumes of visitors even during the shoulder months, with double digit growth being registered in the first four months of this year,” he said.
Although no official data for November has been released, Dr Zammit Lewis said that preliminary projections indicated that arrivals exceeded the same month last year.
“This is further testament to the fact that Malta is no longer dependent on one-off events to boost arrivals in autumn and winter,” he added.
During the first 10 months of this year almost 128,000 visitors came to Malta on business trips, a six per cent increase over the same period of 2015.
Touching on the €560,000 embellishment works carried out at the MCC, he said that this historic building was a major asset for conference tourism. Apart from hosting a number of events in connection with Malta’s forthcoming EU Presidency, this venue would also play a central role in 2018 when Valletta would be the European Culture Capital.
The first project which cost €430,000 involved the installation of a new air conditioning system in the Sacra Infermeria. This included new lighting.
The other project consisted of a sound proofing system between the iconic La Valette Hall and Republic Hall, opening the possibility of holding the simultaneous activities in complete privacy.
Dr Zammit Lewis noted that these works were financed by the revenue generated from the MCC operations. This was a complete turnaround from 2013 when this was a loss-making venue.
Looking ahead, the tourism minister said that the government was trying to tap €5 million in EU funds as part of a project to open part of this historic edifice which had been left neglected for years.
The project aimed to adopt the latest IT technology to enable visitors experience life in this building during the era of the Knights of St John, through the use of smart phones and electronic tablets.