The Government is looking at the possibility of turning areas such as Chalet in Sliema into leisure facilities in private-public partnerships, Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi said today in Parliament.
Speaking about plans within the tourism sector, Mizzi said that the ministry hopes to improve facilities in a number of beaches in certain localities frequented by tourists.
He said hopefully, a public-private partnership will turn the stretch from Chalet to the Qui-sisana into a leisure facility and "fully-fledged" public beach.
He said that other areas will also hopefully be turned into beach leisure facilities, mentioning areas in Pembroke and St Julians.
Mizzi also stated his plan to "leave a legacy" in turning Mellieha Bay into a "top European beach", whilst investing in regenerating the coastal areas of Marsaxlokk and Birzebbuga shall begin soon.
Speaking about other issues, Mizzi said that a 'Touristic Zones Foundation' which should have management committees for each region around Malta an Gozo, will look at aspects including cleansing, signage, general infrastructure, disturbances and pestering linked with tourism in each locality. He said that when it comes to signange and services management "we lag behind, and a lot needs to be done."
Turning to the topic of Air Malta, Mizzi said that the government will be meeting trade unions in the coming weeks, following which he will meet with the Opposition. He said that the airline needs an "aggressive growth model" in order to become fit for purpose. "A change is needed and doing nothing is not an option," he said.
He added that premium class would be added to the structure of the airline, and that facilities will be offered separately. Some functions would need to be changed and no longer considered as core, he said.
Following the rehabilitation of the airline, it would start searching for "the right strategic partner" who would "support the idea of growth," said Mizzi.
Earlier on, Mizzi spoke about the ministry's plan to increase flight routes between countries, prioritizing Portugal as a country with whom to gain connectivity by the end of 2019. He said that other source markets which he would be targeting include parts of Germany, Israel, Russia, Spain and France.
Minister Mizzi thanked former Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis for the work he did in the previous legislature. Speaking about the Isle of MTV concert last night, Mizzi said that it was successful and that a massive clean-up effort, which started overnight, was already underway.
During the debate, a number of PN MPs brought up a number of certain issues, however one statement which was prevalent was the need to attract more quality tourists to Malta. The PN MPs argued that while numbers of tourists are good, Malta’s infrastructure could only take so much, and thus the aim should now be to attract more tourists of higher quality.
Other issues brought up include the problems surrounding the Paceville area in terms of infrastructure, and situations regarding excavation works in tourism zones during the summer months.
Another issue brought up revolved around a story published in today’s edition of the Malta Independent, regarding litter on Dragonara Road, St Julian’s. In response to this particular issue, Minister Konrad Mizzi said the area was cleaned by the Cleansing department but highlighted that there are situations where such litter would be on private land, and thus such situations make it hard for the cleansing department to clear such places.
Minister Konrad Mizzi, during his winding up, addressed a number of issues which arose during the debate.
Regarding Airbnb, he said there are a number of tourists who rent a couch or room in peoples’ homes. “It is a reality that low cost made this possible.” He said the MTA CEO and Airbnb have spoken regarding information sharing. “There is an MTA team monitoring sites to see what properties are being licensed to Airbnb, to ensure they are licensed.”
He also noted that while Airbnb contributed to the amounts of tourists brought to the island, the largest amounts of tourists using Airbnb did so during months when there was not much hotel capacity available, such as during summer.
Regarding the Fast Ferry service, he said that a tender for fast ferry will be issued and that there will be an open competition.
He spoke of the need for new legislation to regarding soliciting outside gentleman’s clubs and licensing, and ticket kiosks.