The dbSeabank Resort and Spa in Mellieha placed 8thin the all-inclusive European resort category of the 2014 Trip Advisor Travellers' Choice Award.
Minister for Tourism Edward Zammit Lewis said that this award sends an important signal to the industry... one of quality".
"The people themselves judged this hotel product and this means that we need to be more vigilant in how we deal with our tourism products". He revealed that the hotel will save around €210,000 through the reduction in water and electricity tariffs come March.
"What the Seabank hotel has achieved is a certificate of excellence as customers themselves said they received a good service".
The Minister said that September statistics for tourism show that arrivals in September rose by 4% over the previous year, and that bed nights rose by 5%. "More people are choosing Malta over other countries , not only in the Mediterranean, but in the world".He explained that predictions until end of 2014 show "that we will break a new record in terms of arrivals".
"One of our priorities is to expand the tourism season and attract tourists during all times of the year. In this regard, we are creating more winter attractions".
The hotel was previously ranked 17th however now edged itself into the top 10, General Manager of the dbSeabank Resort + Spa Hubert Debono said."TripAdvisor is the most used site among travellers. This classification means that those who want to book an all-inclusive hotel, will see this hotel ranked 8th in Europe. Last year saw the hotel receive 50 000 clients and 2,000 wrote reviews on TripAdvisor. It is also one of the most recommended hotels in Malta. Management always knows that the customer comes first and this is apparent in all our day-to-day activities. Every decision takes into consideration the effects on the client".
"We are pleased to see new people book with us, but we are even happier to see clients return as they become part of the family".
"This rank was given by the clients themselves and nobody else", he said."The higher we are on the list, the more we have to live up to".
MHRA CEO Andrew AgiusMuscatwho was present at the event,said that a few years ago people used to book hotels based on the star ratings, however as time and technology has changed, client reviews became more important. "Clients can tell other people how their stay at a particular hotel was. Both rankings now matter".
"We can only imagine how much investment was made into this hotel. Since this is a sector based around people, I need to thank the operators of this hotel for the work they have done. The customers here are treated as people and not as numbers," he said.
Director DB hotel + resortsVince Degiorgio, explained that this classification reflects a decision made when first building the hotel for it to be all-inclusive. "This means that from the moment they check-in until they check-out, they would not need to spend a cent".
"€40 million was invested into this hotel and this excellent European classification validates the decisions we took and encourages us to work harder for the future.This good news could not have come at a better time. Next year we are launching the chain of DB resorts, however we cannot reveal more at this time. The vision of db will be able to be rounded up in one phrase'excellence at all times'. Db wants to move forward and becomeknown as an established mark of quality in the country".