Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said that, in terms of Air Malta we need to consider the vast network and all the partners which Alitalia have in Europe and outside of Europe to see how to benefit from it. This is the crux of the negotiations going on at the moment. We cannot answer any direct questions about the negotiations until we have a draft business plan by the end of this month.
This was after the first round of questions posed by the public at this evening's 'Gvern Li Jisma' conference after discussing all the benefits which Malta has reaped after 2015 and the first six months of 2016 as well.
Zammit Lewis also said of Air Malta at the end of his introductory address that the mere fact that there is a great amount of discussion about tackling the issues is positive and the government could have just left it to go bankrupt like a number of international airlines instead.
Minister Zammit Lewis also spoke about the controversial eco-contribution tax saying that the money which comes from this tax will be used to focus on new projects in 2017. The reasoning behind this being that there can be further projects without taking any money from existing reserves.
In terms of the host families taking on the tax themselves, the Ministry will be looking into the schools taking the brunt of the tax themselves rather than putting pressure on families who are offering their homes to students.
The tax of paying €0.50 per night per tourist over 18, with the amount not exceeding €5 sparked a great amount of controversy due to tourism operators not being given the necessary time to make administrative preparations. There was also a number of operators who banded together to file a Warrant of Prohibitory Injunction on the tax, but this was rejected by a court earlier this month.
Zammit Lewis also spoke about investing solidly in the film industry in Malta saying that there are plans to get over €15 million invested in Fort Rinella in order to buy new equipment. The Minister said that this government found the entire area is a disastrous state and the investment is for the whole industry to become a stable on the island, rather than it only being viable for two months every now and then.
The Minister listed down a number of successes in terms of numbers well exceeded all records and projections in 2015 with solid indications of further growth this year. 2015 saw over 8 million tourists coming to Malta, while June this year actually looks like it's going to get over 200,000 tourists which is also a first.
Gozo Minister, Anton Refalo also spoke about the successes in Gozo in terms of tourism and industry in general during question time specifically mentioning a 58 percent increase in the number of tourists who spent at least one night in Gozo.
The Tourism Minister said about Gozo that it is a very important a different component to the global tourism industry. Last year, Gozo saw over 1 million visitors, which is another record for tourism statistics.
A number of niches are being targeted as well, including the cruise industry which aims to have trips departing and returning to Malta to increase tourist numbers who stay in local hotels thus boosting the already impressive revenue garnered last year. Another niche mentioned by Zammit Lewis was the LGBTIQ community which, owing to Malta's number one position in the European Rainbow Index for equality.