The key tourism indicators for the third quarter of 2007 were up on last year’s, according to the MHRA Hotel Survey, with tourist arrivals up 11.9 per cent, guest nights up 6.3 per cent and tourist expenditure also up by 7.6 per cent.
The president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, Joseph Formosa Gauci, speaking at the Palace Hotel in Sliema yesterday, said there was no doubt at all that the results registered in the tourism sector for 2007 were “indisputedly very positive, and rewarded the stakeholders for their collective effort to reverse the depressed results of 2006.”
In fact, taking the three key indicators on a year to date basis, tourist arrivals were up by 9 per cent over 2006 while guest nights were up 1.4 per cent. Tourist expenditure was up by 5.7 per cent.
Mr Formosa Gauci said: “Despite its inherent vulnerability to changing market conditions, Malta’s tourism industry has proven that it is built on solid foundations and if supported by correct strategic decisions, has the ability to bounce back from adversity and succeed.”
The MHRA survey, compiled by Deloitte, showed that the increase in tourist arrivals in Q3 was clearly boosted by the strong performance in most outbound markets.
Impressive growth rates were registered in the core markets of the UK (17.7 per cent), France (17.2 per cent) and Germany (4.4 per cent). This translated into an increase of some 31,000 extra visitors to Malta. Moreover, 970,000 arrivals for the first nine months of the year reached the highest level in the past six years. The positive results were sustained in October, a relatively quiet month, with a 20 per cent increase in tourists over 2006 figures.
The results were also boosted by very strong performances in the fastest growing market groupings – Ireland (31.4 per cent), Scandinavia (11.5 per cent) and others (7.1 per cent).
The registered increase in tourist arrivals had a very positive impact on the operational performance of hotel operators who registered an improvement in results which exceeded the increase in the rate of tourist arrivals.
Occupancy rates also saw substantial increases over 2006 with 5-star hotels registering 89.6 per cent occupancy compared to 81.4 per cent in 2006. The lower 4-star category also registered an increase to 94.3 per cent in Q3 2007 compared to 88.9 per cent in 2006. Three-star hotels saw the biggest increase in occupancy levels from 80.1 per cent in 2006 to 93.8 per cent in 2007. At just over 4.6 million, guest nights generated in Q3 were 6.3 per cent higher than 2006.
Mr Formosa Gauci said: “We must not get carried away, a lot of work still has to be done if we want to live up to the challenges of an expanding and changing tourism fabric. We must have a very clear plan which will ensure that tourism numbers will continue to increase in a sustainable manner and not at the expense of our overall tourist satisfaction ratings.”
The MHRA president said that the results were a feather in everyone’s cap, especially those who maintained their belief in the industry and who pressed for change and for bold decisions to be taken.
“Credit is due to the Tourism Ministry, the Malta Tourism Authority and the MHRA who all contributed to implementing the very important and delicate change process,” he said. The results obtained so far this year have placed Malta above competing destinations such as Cyprus and Mallorca.
He said the changing fortunes of the past 12 months proved that success in tourism lay in a destination’s ability to anticipate change and to respond to changing market circumstances.
Mr Formosa Gauci also said that the decision to open up to low cost airlines and to increase spending on advertising earlier in the year paid off handsomely, benefiting the economy as a whole in turn.
“An increase of tourist expenditure of Lm20 million in nine months is no mean feat, and few other sectors can boast of comparable growth. Investment in tourism affords returns, and the 2007 results clearly advocate strongly in favour of further increased investment in the sector,” he said.