We are now a few weeks away from the start of the summer season. This is usually the time operators in Gozo, especially those involved in the tourism sector, will normally be looking forward to
Business in Gozo has somehow built a remarkable resilience in operating in circumstances that are far from ideal. Unfortunately, this season they have to add government induced hardship in the form of the largely mismanaged infrastructure work both in Gozo and in the Mellieha/Cirkewwa area.
If the last few months are to be used as an indicator to the summer period, then things do not look very rosy. Though the winter season is generally considered unprofitable, this year business activity in Gozo was even more subdued than expected. A recent survey by the Gozo Tourism Association reported that the majority of respondents termed the performance in the first three months of the 2012 as bad, while a third declared their performance to have been fair, with only 7.3 % describing it as good. When asked how their business performed during the first quarter of 2012 when compared to the same quarter of 2011, 59% of the respondents classified their business performance as ‘less than last year’s’, while only one in four declared that the establishments’ performance was on the same footing as 2011.
Another important aspect that emerges from the survey is the distinction between internal tourism, i.e. Maltese residents that cross over to Gozo for a brief holiday, and foreign tourism. Unsurprisingly, more than half of the Gozitan tourism establishments stated that the domestic tourism was ‘less than same quarter of 2011’. The foreign market was rated even worse.
On the revenue generated during the first quarter of this year, 62.5% of survey respondents stated that their business revenue was ‘bad’, 30% declared that it was ‘fair’, 5% declared that it was ‘good’, while 2.5% of the respondents answered that it was ‘very good’. When Gozo tourist establishments were asked to compare their revenue generated during the first quarter of 2012 with the same quarter of last year, 62% stated that the revenue generated was ‘less than that of last year’, 20% declared that their revenue was ’equal to the first quarter of 2011’, while 20% of the respondents answered that it was ‘better than the first quarter of 2011’.
Those that wish to spin these numbers and attribute this negative performance on some external forces will have a hard time trying to do this when faced with the reasons behind their performance forwarded by the respondents in the survey. When asked about what main factors that are currently limiting their business performance, 56.1% declared that operating costs (to read utilities bills) are limiting their business performance, 58.5% stated that the main cause is insufficient demand by clients, 22% declared that financial costs are the main cause, while 12.2% of the respondents stated that administrative bureaucracy is the main factor. Incredibly enough, the administration is perceived as acting as a hindrance to business instead as a catalyst.
Besides the bureaucratic nonsense and the government induced costs that business have to face, operators in Gozo have an additional challenges. One is the disastrous mismanagement of the road construction in the heart of Victoria where it is impossible to cover one kilometer in less than half an hour. Walking is also made impossible by open holes and canals that are making the whole town look like a war-devastated site.
Commuters travelling between Malta to Gozo have also to face additional burden. In January 2012, the Mellieha council declared its intention to turn the main road, Borg Olivier Street, into to one-way traffic heading down towards Ghadira Bay only. In normal circumstances this would rather make sense but not when the Mellieha bypass is undergoing extensive reconstruction. Following the decision by the Mellieha Council, travellers are faced with the ridiculous situation where they are asked to show a special pass, issued by the same council, in order to be able to go through Mellieha. As a consequence all traffic from Gozo is being diverted to a narrow road which is creating a lot of congestion.
This decision has prompted the Gozo Business Chamber to state that it has “received complaints from its members that because of congestion, which at times lasted of more than an hour and which has been highlighted even on the local media, they missed their flights and other important appointments that they had in Malta. It would also be impossible for an ambulance to enter the area should an accident happen on that road.”
Business in Gozo will not be encouraged by self-congratulation press releases and by printing colorful advertising leaflets (please also note to be used as propaganda material). It is by tackling basis issues that those outline above that the operations can start planning for summer without the need to worry about administrative inflicted hardship.
Dr Anton Refalo is Opposition spokesman for Gozo