Welcome to SmartCity Hotel, in the heart of the vibrant new technological mecca of Malta. Or if you are a sports fan, take a break at the Stadium Hotel on the site of the former Empire Stadium in Gzira. And for total immersion into the Maltese environment, book a holiday at The Abyss, one of the best small luxury hotels in the world offering accommodation with views under the clear blue sea around Malta.

Mind you, these three hotels exist only in the imagination of the final-year students at the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) whose integrated projects are being exhibited just before they make the crucial step of moving from theory to practice in the tourism and hospitality industry.

The students tried to put to good use their academic experience at ITS by designing projects that would develop further the Maltese industry while taking into account the peculiar local physical and socio-cultural environment.

For example Il-Forti is a small fortified tourist village in the vicinity of Mellieha, where staff and guests alike will actually step back in time and experience a traditional Maltese way of life. Another proposal, The Equinox Hotel, is just 300 metres away from Hagar Qim megalithic temples but rather than spoiling the backdrop of one of the oldest free-standing buildings in the world, it seeks to blend with the existing environment and in line with the planned heritage park by exploiting three unused quarries in the area.

On exhibit are six projects by the final-year Hospitality and Tourism Management students, three by Hotel Operation students, four by Accommodation Operations final-year students, and one project by the Travel Agency Operations students.

The exhibition is also made up of other projects from the Food and Beverage Service as well as the Culinary Arts final-year students.

It is being held at the Pembroke Suite Restaurant at ITS and will be open to the public today from 10am to 1pm and tomorrow from 10am to 1pm and from 4pm to 8pm.