Just 27 per cent of Gozo tourism operators questioned for a survey said that their performance in the first four months of this year was better than last year’s, despite record tourism numbers.
The survey was commissioned by the Gozo Tourism Association.
The association said that 45% of respondents stated that the performance of their establishment was less when compared to same period of 2016, while 27% reported their business performance as on the same levels of last year. Another 27% declared that their performance to be better than the same period of last year.
Respondents included operators involved in accommodation, restaurants, diving, transport services, tourist attractions, tour operators and travel agencies.
In April, the National Statistics Office had said that 1,040,188 passengers travelled between Malta and Gozo during the first quarter this year, up by 3.0 per cent when compared to the corresponding quarter in 2016.
The highest number of passengers was in March - 406,510 or 39.1 per cent of the total for the quarter.
In Easter Week, the number of passengers on the ferries was up by 10.6% over the same period in the previous week.
Asked about business revenue between January and April 2017, when compared to same period of 2016, 30% of survey respondents declared that their revenue was better while 27% said it was at the same level as 2016.
43% reported better revenue than 2016.
When it came to profitability, 26% reported growth, 28% saw no change but 46% claimed their profits were less than those achieved in 2016.
Many reported problems in recruiting staff.
54% said that the lack of employees was affecting negatively their business. 22% of respondents stated that although it was a problem to find employees, yet this issue was not affecting their business so much.
Regarding the domestic market, 29% reported an improved performance, 46%, declared that the performance of the domestic market remained the same as last year while 24 per cent said they had seen a drop.
36 per cent said they expected a better summer than last year, 41% said they expected no change, and 23% said they expect a decline.