The Corinthia Group confirmed its plans to develop a six-star hotel on the site currently occupied by the San Gorg Corinthia, the Corinthia Marina and Radisson Blu hotels in St Julian's. During a visit by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, group chairman Alfred Pisani said that this will be a €400 million investment that will create 600 jobs. The three hotels will be demolished and replaced by two brand new hotels. The aim was to attract higher quality tourists to Malta.  The Corinthia Group recently took over the Island Hotels Group, which owns the Radisson Blu St Julians.  

Mr Pisani said the project will see the building of two buildings which will actually have fewer rooms than the current hotels, but the rooms will be nearly double the minimum size of the current ones and the hotel will feature more guest facilities. The room prices will be double those at present.

He explained how the company was launched 52 years ago with just one restaurant and said the transformation was extraordinary. “I have two responsibilities: making sure the group continues to grow and also that the country moves forward.”

Malta, with its limited space, has not yet managed to attract many high quality tourists. “We want all types of hotel to benefit from tourists who spend more, but we are also venturing, a first for Malta, into the six-star sector.” Mr Pisani said Malta should not back away from this challenge. Originally, the group had intended to renovate its hotels but realized that the standard of the 20-year-old buildings could not be raised sufficiently, mainly because of size limitations. The Corinthia Group then decided to push ahead with the risky decision of replacing its hotels with brand new ones.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said this was one of the biggest ever tourism sector projects in Malta, being undertaken by a Maltese company with a European and an international vision. It will create some 600 new jobs within the hotels group. The project will respect the neighbouring areas but will also have a positive ripple effect on the surroundings. The effects of the upgrading of the touristic zone are incalculable, he said. “In terms of quality this will be a totally new ballgame for Malta.”

Dr Muscat said it is the government’s duty to help out as much as possible. He also noted that, once the project is completed, the company’s flagship hotel will once again be in Malta. “This is an international investment that is laying the foundations for our vision for tourism. The tourism sector is growing but this is not just a numbers game – it is also about quality.”

CEO – Development Simon Naudi explained that the Corinthia San Gorg, the Corinthia Marina and the Radisson will make way for a completely new development. He said a consultation on the planning aspect was underway and the group hoped that the entire country would be behind the project. The new hotels, he said, will not be high-rise towers but low buildings sprawled around the area. He could not say exactly how high the structures will be since the project is still in planning stage.

Mr Pisani said currently, the average price of a room in a 5-star hotel is around €140 to €150 but he expected prices to rise to at least €200 per room in the new 6-star hotels. “The rooms will be no smaller than 40 square meters,” he said, noting that people who paid more had to give something extra.

Asked about a target date, Mr Pisani said he hoped that the government would allow construction to take place all year round. Last year, construction was halted during the summer months in order to reduce the effect on touristic areas. Dr Muscat interjected, saying that the government wanted the planning process to be expedited and that it made sense for works to continue throughout the summer months. The company, he said, had very good ideas about work practices, including transporting construction waste by sea instead of by land.

Mr Pisani said that, if the permits were issued, the timeframe would be around 4 years, but insisted that this was only a rough calculation.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis said the project was in line with government policy to improve the quality of Malta’s tourism product. Malta may become a destination of choice for higher quality tourists, he said. Dr Zammit Lewis said this will be one of the largest ever tourism projects in Malta and will also help beat seasonality.

Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon was also present for the press event.