25 November - 1 December 1999

Malta to lose another 10,000 British tourists this winter

by Franco Aloisio

Malta will be losing another 5,000 to 10,000 tourists from Britain, the chief executive of the Malta Tourism Authority, Major Alfred Cassar Reynaud, said yesterday.

Major Cassar Reynaud lamented that the major British tour operators, Airtours and Thomson Holidays, have already cut around 200,000 holidays to Malta.

"The problem is that Malta is suffering from the tour operator's policy of economies of scale, whereby most operators are after low-priced destinations which can cater for large quantities of tourists," he said.

Major Cassar Reynaud added: "Most British tourists are after the 3-star hotels, which in Malta is a tired category that needs heavy restructuring. The main problem is that this restructuring has not started yet."

Malta has high social costs when it comes to tourism, he said. Commenting on this problem, MTA chairman John C. Grech said the only solution is to provide more value for money. Moreover the British market has to be marketed in a specific manner. In fact, a Lm1m publicity campaign has been budgeted for the British market alone.

Both Major Cassar Reynaud and Dr Grech were speaking during the launch of MTA's annual conference, which will be held next week at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. The conference is expected to attract 400 participants from the tourism industry. Dr Grech said that the conference will be an important step in the national consultation process on tourism.

"Every Maltese should be seen as a stakeholder in this industry. Unless the Maltese tourism industry is owned by everyone, we will not progress as a country," he said.

The chairmen of the various MTA directorates will be addressing the conference together with the Tourism Minister, Prime Minister and other MTA officials.

Asked for MTA's reactions on the Budget, Dr Grech said he was satisfied that Lm1.4m more were budgeted for the authority which gives the MTA a budget of Lm7.4m.

"The MTA also requires the financial help of the private sector," he said.