Malta has a strong brand as a tourist destination, however like all markets fashions change. Dr Edward Zammit Lewis spoke to Piers Allen about updating Malta’s tourism product offerings and finding new markets.
The Minister for Tourism, Dr Edward Zammit Lewis, recently explained that Malta’s current tourism policy, covering from 2012 up until 2016, needs updating to create a clear longer-term vision and a roadmap for the future, so I begin by asking the minister where he felt the old policy was going wrong. “The 2012-2016 policy gave good results in the sense that if you examine the 2012-2014 tourist data we always managed to increase the numbers,” he explains. “It is more an issue that some aspects of the policy are outdated, and over other areas of the policy we have no control, which then affect our tourism products and source markets, so I realised we need a review of parts of the existing policy.”
“But more than that” Dr Zammit Lewis adds, “we need a longer-term strategic vision. “The important thing is that we see how we want to position ourselves within the EU tourism industry.” The minister explains that while numbers are important, and Malta is seeing figures, such as hotel occupancy rates improve, a strategic approach seeks to look at Malta’s position within certain niches. For example, Malta is well-established, and highly rated, as a destination for scuba diving. But could Malta be doing more to exploit other niches in which it operates? For example, the minister asks whether, in the area of cultural tourism, Malta is promoting its best assets. St John’s Co-Cathedral is a jewel in Europe, Dr Zammit Lewis point out, yet it is visited by only one quarter of the visitors who come to Malta. “Is this enough? No. To me this isn’t an acceptable result,” the minister states firmly, before then noting that Malta is also not suitably promoting its religious heritage for religious tourism.
Another niche that the minister highlights is the MICE sector (where MICE stands for Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions). As Dr Zammit Lewis explains, this is already a very important sector for Malta which has a number of international standard firms operating already. “These four examples just mentioned help us to fight seasonality, which is a big issue for a Mediterranean tourism destination which started its tourism experience based on the sun and sea concept.”
I ask the minister about his ambitions to create markets for Malta outside of the EU. He explains that Malta will definitely have to factor more on tourism from economies which are experiencing better growth rates than the EU average, which is an approach that other EU tourist destinations are also taking. Concrete examples of such countries, Dr Zammit Lewis adds, would include the Middle East, India, Brazil, and China. “The advantage is that at the end of the day we will have a higher spending tourist,” he points out. The White Rocks project, currently at “expression of interest” stage is part of these efforts to establish Malta as a more upmarket tourist destination.
The minister recently returned to Malta from visits to both the UK and Germany. Talking about the opportunities raised by both of these visits Dr Zammit Lewis explains that Frankfurt isn’t only a base for promoting to the German market, but in fact is a base from which Air Malta and the Malta Tourism Authority manage all their source markets in central and Northern Europe. The changing nature of the tourism sector is very important especially since these markets are still, currently, very dependent on tour operators. Again the minister’s strategy is to identify niches that can be developed (if necessary, with “a sniper approach”), and two of particular interest for the Frankfurt office, are LGBT tourism and marriage tourism.
The marketing challenge in London is slightly different; the UK is still approximately 30% of Malta’s market and so is hugely important to Malta’s tourism sector. And while he was in London, Dr Zammit Lewis managed to speak to tour operators representing 200,000 tourists per year. However, trends mean that consumer expectations change over time. A current trend is less reliance on tour operators to book a holiday, and more on the use of digital media to choose the right destination. Reflecting on this the minister also visited the Malta Tourism Authorities’ offices in Putney, London, where he was impressed with the digital and social media marketing campaigns being run, and which are becoming increasingly relevant as a tool in the tourism sector.
As the minister explains, over the years Malta has consciously tried developing other source markets, than the UK, for its tourists, while also attempting to attract a younger demographic. Dr Zammit Lewis explains that Malta is consciously projecting a vision of Malta as a holiday destination not just for relaxation, but which also offers entertainment, and business venues where you can organise events and conferences. “If we want to project ourselves as a quality destination we need more events and activities,” he points out, also noting that the lack of things to do is one of the main complaints tourists make. “While making no promises, a golf course would surely help us sell Malta better to the high-end tourist,” the minister notes. By diversifying in this way, if one of the niches moves away, Malta will have new niches which may be less in number, but will give a better return,” he explains.
One of the points about being an Island tourism destination is that Malta is very reliant on air travel to get tourists to and from the Island (not forgetting the cruise ships). Dr Zammit Lewis points out that: “If you go a couple of years back since the advent of low-cost carriers there is a clear correlation between connectivity and numbers of tourists; so we’ll increase connectivity.” Tourists, he points out, want easy connectivity, with an airport nearby that will take them to their destination quickly and in comfort. “And there are some carriers coming to Malta who don’t even ask for [financial] help,” he adds.
But what of Air Malta? I ask. “As an Island state we need to have a national carrier,” Dr Zammit Lewis points out, adding that “We are aware of the difficulties.” This situation, he explains is that “Air Malta is in the fourth year of a five-year restructuring plan with the EU Commission, after the previous administration had to pay out €52 million as state aid to the company”. The minister notes, however, that: “We are determined to keep our commitment vis-à-vis the restructuring process with the EU commission” consequently the current objectives for Air Malta are to get it to commercial viability and to give it a clear direction.
Malta is, of course, two islands, and Gozo has its own tourism needs and so I ask the minister what he feels is the correct approach for developing tourism in Malta’s sister island. “I agree with the Gozo Tourism Authority, which has direct representation on MTA, that they have their own policy… but in my opinion within the ambit of a national policy for tourism,” explains the minister. Dr Zammit Lewis explains that Gozo has particular needs, but it also has particular strengths in certain specific sectors such as in farm houses. He goes on to commend the work done by certain professional private enterprises in Gozo which took concrete initiatives to make their farmhouses eco-friendly (an initiative completed without EU funding).
The minister explains that excluding internal tourism Gozo has seen a 4.5% increase in the traffic between Malta and Gozo, along with increasing Maltese traffic and of tourists spending the night in Gozo. “My objective is to increase the number of tourists who view Gozo as a tourist destination on its own, or as phase two of their holiday,” adds Dr Zammit Lewis. How will this plan be achieved? The minister indicates that government is sending out the signal to developers that it is encouraging the development of hotels in Gozo. He explains that there is now an optimal commercial environment for investors to invest in either building or developing four- or five-star hotels, with tourism numbers currently encouraging and a government that is willing to invest in Gozo.
Thinking of the future Dr Zammit Lewis explains that not later than 2015 he expects to see the development of a new hotel in Gozo, “I am determined to reverse a situation where in the last 10 to 12 years an important number of hotels in Gozo closed down and were converted into real-estate projects”.