Genuine producers from Gozo are an integral part of the feel-good factor that the island has to offer and deserve more support, MEP Francis Zammit Dimech said during a round table discussion held last week.

Together with representatives of the Gozo Tourism Association (GTA), the Gozo Business Chamber (GBC) and NGOs, the producers held meetings at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that since being elected to the European Parliament, he started holding a series of consultation meetings with various stakeholders to understand their challenges and aspirations and to reflect this in his work at the European Parliament.

Referring to discussions on the future of Europe, Dr Zammit Dimech said that these also needed to take into account national and regional sentiments.

He emphasised on the European principle of subsidiarity and the need for regional issues to be decided in Gozo.

Measures to tackle Gozo’s seasonality were proposed

Paul Scicluna from the GTA said that while tourism played an important economic role for the island’s economy, limited data and statistics specific to tourism in Gozo was in hand.

He said that seasonality in Gozo was still remarkable and thus the association was proposing measures, such as reduced VAT rates throughout the winter period, to tackle such an issue.

Using the self-catering regulations as an example, Mr Scicluna said that the one-size-fits-all approach was unfair on the island when taking into account its challenges.

Michael Galea from the GBC spoke about various socio-economic factors that have an impact on business in Gozo including the aging population owing to the fact that young people were not residing or returning to Gozo following their studies.

He spoke about the proposal of the chamber for special vat rates to apply in Gozo to incentivise investment in Gozo and counteract the challenges faced.

Dr Zammit Dimech also hosted an exhibition portraying the culture, lifestyle and natural assets of Gozo at the European Parliament which saw the participation of photographers from the Gozo Photography Association.

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