The newly elected council of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association met recently to elect officials and designated representatives of the association on various boards and committees during 2009/2010.

George Micallef was confirmed as president for the year 2009/2010 and he thanked outgoing president Kevin DeCesare for his work and commitment during the past year. Mr Micallef acknowledged that the last 12 months have been a challenging period for Malta, and most especially for the tourism sector, which had suffered severe falls in occupancy levels and revenue. The months ahead are expected to be equally difficult and the sector is bracing itself for another tough year. The council would like to urge the government to refrain from introducing any further costs affecting the industry at a time when the market is very price-conscious. It will continue to work closely with the Malta Tourism Authority and the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism in support of increased marketing, seat capacity, the introduction of new routes and an improved ‘Product Malta’.

The MHRA Council for 2009/2010 is composed of George Micallef as president, Winston J. Zahra and Kevin DeCesare as vice-presidents and Joseph Attard as treasurer. Dr Hugh Peralta was confirmed as secretary-general. The other council members are Nicholas Borg, Noel Attard, Mario de Celis, Raphael Cauchi, Noel Debono, Julian Diacono, David Jaccarini, Matthew Pace, Tony Zahra and Claire Zammit Xuereb.