18 - 24 January 2001

FTI revises position on contracted hotels in Malta

by Franco Aloisio

Munich-based tour operator giant Frosch Touristik International (FTI) has revised its position regarding the Maltese market for next summer, and has decided to include all 46 Maltese hotels it had contracted with last summer into this year’s programme, tourism sources said yesterday.
However, FTI will still reduce the number of tourists destined for Malta by half, from 80,000 to 40,000.
At the end of last year, FTI put pressure on its 46 contracted hotels in Malta to put down rates by 15 per cent as a result of its internal restructuring plans after the company was bought by Airtours.
However, all hotels represented by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) rejected FTI’s proposal. FTI had also asked the government to subsidise German tourism by Lm1m, a proposal which was not accepted by the government. Moreover, FTI stated it was not interested any more in contracting all hotels.
Notwithstanding this position, FTI is in the process of coming up with a revised edition of the Malta brochure, still to be published. The new brochure, which will be much more voluminous, is expected to include all 46 contracted hotels with price adjustments. As a result, all hotels will receive exposure on the German market.

MHRA President Anthony Chircop told The Malta Business Weekly (see page 2) that the association welcomed this development.
“We are happy to note that FTI has adopted a different approach. MHRA is very happy with this development,” he said.
“MHRA was disappointed at the fact that FTI decided to reduce its programme to Malta. Moreover, they wanted to reduce the already contracted rates. However, this development will now guarantee that all contracted hotels can get a fair share of the German market.”
Meanwhile, reliable sources said an MTA delegation, headed by the chairman of the Marketing Directorate Joe Preca, is currently in Germany to promote the island. The main task of this mission is to fill those seats left vacant by FTI. The delegation is meeting all top German operators, including FTI. Sources said the FTI programme for next summer is selling well.