The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association expressed “shock” yesterday at the recent outburst of the Director General of the GRTU (Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises) Vince Farrugia who, the MHRA said, made “a series of unfounded and inaccurate allegations against the association, together with unsubstantiated generalisations,” as reported in The Malta Independent on Sunday.

In a statement, the MHRA said it felt it needed to take no lessons from Mr Farrugia.

MHRA added that it is proud of its achievements through its continued lobbying in favour of the tourism sector. As an association that represents all the major players who have invested over half a billion Maltese liri in the industry and employ in excess of 20,000 people, it definitely does not represent any petty interest and has certainly not messed up the situation.

Thanks in a large part to MHRA, over the last 12 months the industry has seen a major restructuring at the Malta Tourism Authority, with the new chairman having the widespread support of the industry. There is a new marketing campaign that is starting to bear fruit and at last we have a major low-cost carrier operating to Malta with great success from the limited routes that have been allocated so far. The direction seems to be right though MHRA reaffirms its opinion that there could be improvement in the speed with which these changes are taking place.

“We need no lessons from GRTU on what the industry requires. We have always acted with great restraint and responsibility and left our doors open to any discussion with all stakeholders in the industry. GRTU’s only contribution at the moment seems to be opening up village homes to accommodate tourists with Maltese families,” the MHRA said.

The GRTU Director General’s comments at the MHRA meeting last week – when Mr Farrugia called on the Prime Minister to take over the Tourism Ministry from Dr Francis Zammit Dimech – were out of place within the current changes taking place. Mr Farrugia “typically was reacting late and seems to be out of touch,” the MHRA said.

What he has failed to realise is that the minister has come a long way in meeting the requirements of the industry and fully supports the expansion of low-cost operators to Malta and the implementation of the consultative group’s recommendations, which incorporate the product, marketing and seat capacity as its major immediate focus. Obviously, the final decision on a number of these issues depends on the Inter-Ministerial Committee led by the Prime Minister. Even though he was present merely as a guest, Mr Farrugia “attempted to hijack our quarterly presentation and, despite the fact that the MHRA acted with courtesy, the GRTU decided to make comments to a Sunday paper to launch an all-out attack”.

Of course, the Director General is not an officer of the GRTU, but merely an employee whose role is one of administration and expressing decisions taken by council, MHRA said. If it transpires that the opinions referred to above are not those that reflect the views of the GRTU council, then MHRA expects that Mr Farrugia be asked to resign.

MHRA would like to assure its members that it will carry on with its efforts to ensure a recovery in the tourism industry. It has never shirked its responsibilities and has taken difficult decisions when needed. It has never, and will never, resort to media theatrics to try and increase its membership, the MHRA said.