Close to 900,000 tourists visited Malta during the third quarter, a 13.3% increase over the same period last year whilst guest nights also by 9.3% when compared to last year’s levels, statistics presented during the Malta Hotels and Restaurant’s Association’s third quarter review and annual conference revealed.

Presenting the highlights of the MHRA’s third quarter review, Deloitte’s leader in financial advisory Raphael Aloisio noted the importance of this sector as it was the peak touristic season, and said that the general trends found are a continuation of what has already been seen earlier in the year, and on what was achieved by the sector last year.

The most significant change is that the numbers of tourists opting for private accommodation has continued to increase at a strong rate; there was a 24.9% increase in tourists taking up residence in private accommodation whilst collective accommodation occupation increased by 10.8%.  In fact 62% of the growth in arrivals as absorbed by private accommodation.  Nonetheless, most hotels were still operating at close to full occupancy.

It is estimated that tourist expenditure will this year exceed the €1.6 billion mark, an increase of 9.3% over the same period in 2017.  This means that the tourism industry is continuing to increase at a faster pace than the growth that the national economy is experiencing as a whole, Aloisio said.

A reality that the hotel industry must accept, Aloisio said, is that non-accommodation income is at a stable but not increasing level because of a significant increase in restaurants and the general tourist preference to explore the country and go beyond the confines of the hotel.  Notably, there was an 8.3% decline in non-accommodation income in the four-star hotel category in this quarter.

Payroll costs have meanwhile increased across the board, with a 3% increase in five-star hotels, 8.5% increase in four-star hotels, and 1.7% increase in three-star hotels on a year to day basis.  Overheads also increased in four-star (7.1%) and three-star (6.9%) hotels, but these same overheads decreased by 1.2% in five-star hotels.

Four-star hotels registered an 8.5% increase in profitability per available room, whilst five-star and three-star hotels retained the exact same profitability per room as last year.

The MHRA restaurant survey for the same quarter meanwhile surveyed 101 restaurants across Malta and Gozo – 14 being in Gozo, 29 in the north and central region, 28 on the St. Julian’s coastline, 19 in Valletta, and 11 in the south of the island. 

The survey found a 1 to 1.39 ratio between full time and part time workers, and found an even 50-50 split between local and foreign employees in restaurants.

The results show an increase in restaurant revenue by 3% over the summer, and noted that this was registered across all regions, but most notably in the southern region of the island.  However, operational costs also increased by 3%, with payroll costs increasing by 5.7%, possibly in response to recruitment challenges faced by the majority of restaurant operators, Aloisio said.

Overall, the survey showed that 78% of the restaurants claimed to be satisfied or very satisfied with their performance during this period.  Moreover, the majority of those participating remain upbeat and are expecting good business for the coming winter season, Aloisio concluded.

Yacoub Nasreddin, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Middle East University, signed a memorandum of understand with the MHRA which will see close collaboration between the association and the university.

The Middle East University is based in Amman, Jordan’s capital city, and was established in 2005 as a post-graduate university specialising in the tourism industry.  It is built on 120,000 square metres of land and has now expanded to cater for under-graduate students as well.  In total, it has a population of 5,000 students and teaches units specialising in tourism, with all units being taught in English so to make sure that all students are fluent in the language.

A number of figures then took the stage on a panel, with each person announcing a different initiative that will be implemented in the coming year.

Various other initiatives were announced; MTA chairman Gavin Gulia said that the MTA would be working to on a programme to upgrade English proficiency within the hospitality business, BOV’s Mark Scicluna Bartoli announced initiatives for family businesses within the tourism sector, whilst a new web portal called the Mediterranean Observer was also announced by its editor Andrew Mark Attard.

Malta Enterprise’s Karl Herrera also announced a new scheme which will contribute towards the refurbishment of hotels and restaurants; a new platform for instant, hassle-free booking of restaurants called Taaable was also announced by the company’s CEO Lars O’ Connell; whilst Peter Sharratt, the Strategic Advisor to the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation, announced that German giants Siemens would be carrying out a Smart Nation report on Malta, which identifies items were improvements and more return on investment can be made.

The implementation of a new Tourism Optimiser Platform, the details of which will be given in the coming months, was also announced.  This platform intends to be a portal for the government and providers to collaborate in governmental and institutional travel, which is a term that refers to the tourism industry.

Taleb Rifai, who is a member of the board of governors of the multilateral trade facility and the former secretary general of the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation, said that there were a number of challenges facing the tourism industry across the Mediterranean, but said that Malta was well placed to be a leader in this sector.  He said that it is crucial that there is the political will to improve the sector, and that Malta has to be branded and become known as a destination around the world.  He said that the sector had to be courageous and embark on new aggressive projects so that it keeps improving.

The PN’s spokesperson for Tourism Robert Arrigo meanwhile also had a number of suggestions, such as online guide courses for the tourism industry, shorter years towards graduation, crash courses for young works, improvements in the process of getting coach driver licenses, and, perhaps most notably, hotels becoming VAT free in winter so to help in the off-peak season.  He said that the tourism industry was a bit like a football team, in that it needed constant care to keep improving, and he called for more interaction and work together for the upcoming winter period.