Noel Grima

After two years as managing director of Frosch Touristik International, Maltese Beppe Bugeja is now moving on.

He told this paper in an interview that he is now moving to consolidate growth in his own companies. But he will still support FTI now and in the future and help it with what-ever needs.

Mr Bugeja has just opened his own office in Salallah in Oman. He was the first to fly charter flights there and has put the entire infrastructure in place, since there was no tourist infrastructure before he moved in. The two hotels in place, the Hilton and the Crowne Plaza, are now booked solid for the next two years.

All this has made the place increasingly popular and a number of tourist organisations are now opening shop there.

Mr Bugeja is also focusing on growth in the other venture, Meeting Point, which has just opened a tourist village in Hungarde on the Red Sea. There is also Meeting Point Malta and a host of incoming agents in the Azores, Oman, Egypt and Croatia.

Yet another company owned by Mr Bugeja, Aviation Sea Brokers, saw 400 per cent growth last year and expects to see 80 per cent growth this year.

Mr Bugeja, who was responsible for Frosch bringing huge volumes of German tourists to Malta some years back, said he left Frosch as friends. FTI has now appointed Boris Raoul as the new managing director. Mr Raoul has been very successful as the managing director of associated company 5thFlug and saw rapid growth in this charter airline. There is nobody better on the market than Mr Raoul, Mr Bugeja noted, pledging to continue to support him and FTI in any way that he can.