While inaugurating the newly opened Hugo’s Boutique Hotel in St Julian’s, Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewis stated that this ten-million euro investment is a major project within the hub of one of the entertainment places in Malta and reflects the current major optimism surrounding the tourism industry.
The Minister underlined that following a number of years, the tourism sector is currently enjoying a very convincing performance that is in turn generating an outstanding and better than expected return on investment.
“This morning the National Statistics Office published the latest inbound tourism figures. I am so pleased with the outcome so far for this current year. All is indicating that we are targeting for a yet another record year in the tourism sector”, stated the Minister
Last May registered a very strong increase of more than 10% over the same month of last year, reaching 192,000 tourists. These tourists spent 1.87 million nights in Malta. Tourism expenditure in May reached the €154.4 million mark, registering a 5% increase on May 2015. During the first five months of this year, over 640,000 tourists visited our country, meaning an 11% increase on same months of 2015. Nights spent by these tourists reached 4.4 million nights, an increase of 8.5% over that registered last year. The tourism expenditure reached nearly the €486.9 million mark, meaning a growth of 6.4%, which contributed €29.1 million more in direct income towards our economy.
As the traditional markets continue to grow as expected, it is very pleasing to note that other markets such as that from Germany, Scandinavia, The Netherlands, Spain and USA are registering very significant growths month after month, explained the Minister
The positive economic indicators within tourism that have been witnessed over the recent years, are the result of a coordinated and concerted efforts undertaken by this Government Administration in conjunction with the private sector, noted the Minister for Tourism.
Dr Zammit Lewis reaffirmed the importance and the necessity to continue improving our touristic product. He commended Hugo’s Boutique Hotel for introducing innovative features whereby the guest rooms have their own unique theme and distinctive character and are equipped with an innovative room management system that puts the guest in complete control.
With reference to the importance of quality within the sector, Dr Edward Zammit Lewis also referred to the recent introduction of the Eco Contribution and stated that all revenue generated from this contribution will solely and exclusively be directed towards the improvement and embellishment of the local infrastructure with the objective of improving the Maltese Islands’ ‘product’ and to complement other Government initiatives.
Furthermore, Malta’s tourism competitiveness can only be sustained if growth is accompanied by the development of, and investment in, our human resources. This investment has created around 30 new jobs. The Minister also noted that discussions are underway with relevant stakeholders to secure their commitment towards measures designed to enhance the working conditions and the professional quality of the tourism workforce.
Dr Zammit Lewis concluded that it is with a huge sense of optimism that Government looks towards the future of Malta’s tourism industry, further encouraged by the trust that the private investors are continuously showing towards the economy, and its outlook, by investing into important projects such as this one.
The Minister for Tourism congratulated Hugo’s Boutique Hotel board of directors for this inauguration and their further prospects of another flagship hotel investment due to open its doors in 2017.