The final-year students at the Institute of Tourism students (ITS) were showered with praise for their effort and successful presentation of their integrated projects, the apex of their academic experience at the institute.

Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech, Malta Labour Party Spokesman for Tourism Evarist Bartolo, MLP Spokesman for Education Carmelo Abela and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for Education, Youth and Employment, Frans Borg visited the exhibition that is the launching pad for ITS students into full-time employment in the tourism and hospitality industry.

ITS students tried to put to good use their academic experience at ITS by designing projects that would further develop the Maltese tourism and hospitality industry while taking into account the peculiar local physical and socio-cultural environment. Projects include a proposal to build the SmartCity Hotel as an iconic architectural feat for an ideal venue to do business, building a sports-themed hotel on the site of the abandoned Empire Stadium in Gzira, using three abandoned quarries near the Hagar Qim temples to build a hotel that blends in with the environment, building an underwater hotel named “The Abyss” to serve as one the best small luxury hotels in the world offering accommodation with views under the clear blue Maltese sea.

All these proposals were well-researched and could become a reality if they were to be taken up by the right investors.