Air Malta to retain all flights in 2001

by Franco Aloisio

Despite the decrease in tourist arrivals projected to take place during this winter and in summer 2001, Air Malta will still retain all of its regular scheduled flights, tourism sources said yesterday.
The decision by FTI to cut down by 40,000 the number of German tourists it brings to Malta has hit the industry hard. However, sources said Air Malta will still be operating regularly to the German market so as to compensate for the drop in FTI tourists.
In fact, the Malta Tourism Authority together with the Tourism Ministry and various local operators are discussing packages with other German operators such as Neckerman, Alltours, TUI and Kreuzer. In view of possible deals with these operators, Air Malta will serve as the carrier for these tourists.
Tourism Minister Michael Refalo said this winter the tourism industry will start feeling the effect of the decline in programmes from the UK and Germany.
“We are working hard to make up for reduced programmes, as was the case with FTI. For instance, next year, we will see an increase of 10,000 British tourists from Thomson,” Dr Refalo said. He added that Malta will have to start marketing itself in other markets, such as Russia, in order to diversify its markets and not rely solely on the British and German markets.
MTA chairman John C. Grech told The Malta Business Weekly that FTI’s decision to reduce its capacity to Malta was due to its own restructuring plans. Dr Grech said that after being bought out by Airtours, FTI decided to cut down on a number of markets. Malta, FTI’s first foreign destination, was retained but the number of tourists were reduced considerably.
Initially, FTI were demanding local hoteliers to cut down their packages by 15 per cent, a proposal which was not welcomed by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.
“We are now negotiating with FTI how to increase marketing and advertising efforts in Germany so as to compensate for the decrease in this market,” Dr Grech said.
MHRA President Anthony Chircop said Malta needs to reposition itself in the international tourism industry: “We need to upgrade our product, and increase our marketing efforts. Malta should attract different types of tourists during the winter months.”
Mr Chircop said tourist arrivals during this winter will be slightly less than last year.
“Overall the situation is bleak. We need to work harder together,” he said.
On Tuesday, MHRA presented the results of its hotel occupancy survey for the months of July, August and September. The results showed clearly that business was worse than the same period last year, with a lower room occupancy rate.