The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) in collaboration with the Malta Tourism Authority in 2005 launched the HOTSME Leonardo Project over a 30 month period, the Department of Information said.

The aim was to address the needs of hotels in the European Union, with a special reference to smaller accommodation establishments where there was lack of training opportunities. The project provided managers and other employees of small and medium hotels the opportunity for continuous professional development through workplace learning. It was co-financed by the European Commission to a maximum amount of EUR439,086.

The project was also of particular interest because the MHRA and the MTA were leading a project team made up of similar entities across five other EU member states: Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain.

“Tourism is all about the level of satisfaction a tourist gets when he visits a country. To reach this level, all those that come in contact with the tourist must have the necessary training so that the tourist gets the best service and feels at home during his stay,” Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said when he delivered the closing address of the MHRA-MTA HOTSME Project at an international conference.

He added that during the past years the government together with MTA and other stakeholders, foremost among them the MHRA, invested in Product Malta – a number of hotels in the five- and four-star categories were built, promenades were embellished, new beaches were built, restoration and rehabilitation projects were realised, roundabouts and centre strips in Malta and Gozo were turned into a permanent garden.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that all these projects would not be worth anything if the tourist was not treated well and given the service he aspired for.