Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said yesterday that Malta’s performance in the tourism sector in the first four months of this year is encouraging.
“We have managed to hold our own and even marginally increase our numbers, when comparable destinations have struggled. Later on this month, the Malta Tourism Authority will be meeting stakeholders to give an overview of the industry’s performance,” he said, speaking at the MTA’s marketing and sales directorate working meeting in Gozo.
“We are aware that we are losing our competitiveness in the winter months and the government has launched four schemes to improve business during these months. Discussions are underway with the European Commission on the two most important schemes – schemes that are intended to increase our visibility and accessibility in the market. Our aim is bring incremental business over to Malta,” Dr Zammit Dimech added.
The minister said Malta wants to strengthen its ties with existing partners but “we are likewise interested in new modes of business”. He said that the country cannot ignore the power of the internet or of the major low cost carriers. “These should form part of our mix, but not at the expense of other players. We believe that the schemes can lead us to this business mix, more so if our schemes are complemented by other initiatives taken by the airport operator and the private sector.” he said.
Dr Zammit Dimech said that the role of the directorate in the success of these schemes is crucial. These schemes, he said, should form an integral part of the MTA’s marketing strategy for the winter months and provide an ideal platform for the MTA to start working more closely with the airlines that bring 95 per cent of Malta’s tourism business.
He said the meetings he had held with a number of traditional airlines that expressed an interest in these schemes clearly indicated that there is potential for increased business from both existing markets as well as from new ones. This potential, said Dr Zammit Dimech, can only be realised “if we coordinate our marketing efforts with the airlines”.
The minister said that, likewise, the directorate had an essential role to play in the branding process that was launched last year. He said that this project, to which the government is devoting Lm0.5 million this year, is perhaps the most ambitious project undertaken by the MTA to date.