Thanks to the many targeted initiatives on many fronts and the sterling work carried out by all tourism stakeholders in close conjunction with the Ministry for Gozo and the various national tourism and other entities, our island’s tourism sector, on which Gozo’s economy so highly depends, is clearly going through a phase of unprecedented, yet sustainable, expansion and growth that is generating further wealth and jobs across the island.

I already had the occasion to highlight the excellent achievements in tourism we attained last year in Gozo where for the very first time the number of visitors and nights spent actually surpassed the one million mark with considerable and double-digit growth on the previous years. 

This year’s statistics are also very promising. So far, we have had an excellent winter period (January to March) with yet again record arrivals for this season that registered an exceptional 58 per cent growth over last year. As we progress further into the year, we expect to maintain a growth trend for the successive months too. Moreover, this will allow us to continue mitigating further the adverse effects of seasonality that we are aware is a significant problem for all Gozo tourism operators but that now at last we are managing to tackle effectively. We are currently well into the summer season and all indicators are pointing to another exceptional performance for all tourism niches, including both the established ones such as diving, and the emerging ones such as religious and wedding tourism.  

We are also working hard to develop further the cruise-line passengers segment which last year grew tremendously. In this sector alone we attained just under the 10,000 passengers mark, equating to nearly a 300 per cent increase over 2012. Here, I must mention the ongoing work to relocate the Xlendi buoy that will allow us to grow further in this important segment in the near future and beyond. 

We are also very pleased to note the consistent increase of passengers and vehicles crossing from Malta on Gozo Channel ferries, where for the second quarter of 2016 there was growth of four per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively, when compared to the same period of 2015. Additionally, between January and June an overall 10 per cent increase in passengers and vehicles was also recorded, while over the past year a nine per cent increase in ferry trips was clocked. I also need to point out that thanks to this growth and the other measures implemented by the management and workers of Gozo Channel, after many years of heavy losses, the company is finally getting back on its feet and can move forward into the future with renewed optimism. This is a completely different scenario to what the company was facing up to a just few years ago.

Such numbers and trends are all very promising and we remain very optimistic for the future. But we cannot afford to rest on our laurels and we are determined to keep working hard and deliver on the remaining open fronts and projects while we will also identify and initiate other initiatives that will deliver sustainable growth to the Gozo tourism sector and thus the economy in general. Our approach, however, is purposely targeted and not random, and this is precisely why we are managing to reach, and even surpass, our pre-established targets for the sector. We are also all well aware of the developments we are expecting with respect to medical tourism tied with the development and upgrade of the Gozo Hospital and the new medical school campus in Gozo. 

We are also targeting quality tourism in Gozo where thanks, among others, to the general improvement in the Gozo overall ‘product’ conducted in the past few years, including also an investment of €8 million to improve Gozo’s roads network alone, we are experiencing a new trend with the opening of boutique hotels around the island.

While mentioning the improvement in the Gozo product, I must also make reference to the Citadel project which during the past years has finally been transformed into a unique jewel. All this happened thanks to the extensive, but careful, work of restoration and rehabilitation that brought it to its majestic state it is in today to be enjoyed and admired by locals and tourist alike. The project presented quite a few challenges and difficulties, and I take this opportunity to thank all those who were in some way involved in this comprehensive project. We now look ahead with great pride and determination to fully preserve this matchless site with its magnificent new attractions and facilities.

Furthermore, again in line with our strategy aimed at quality tourism, we also achieved ‘Beach of Quality’ status for two main beaches in Gozo, namely Marsalforn and Hondoq ir-Rummien, and we are actively working to ensure they also attain ‘blue flag’ status and join the Ramla l-Hamra beach in this category. These beaches officially meet the strict and required quality criteria set by this important and world recognised standard. We are also implementing various initiatives within the context of embellishing the general Gozo coastline specifically aimed at improving the management of our beaches also through a financial agreement with the Malta Tourism Authority for the availability of funds expressly for this purpose.

In order to nurture and develop further Gozo’s tourism niches, the Ministry for Gozo also launched specific schemes to support dive centres and other operators which function within the sport and adventure, religious, conference and incentive and wedding tourism niches in their various external and foreign marketing activities. This is allowing us to register important growth in such targeted niches; we are also considering other possible areas, and related measures, for growth. Such initiatives conducted by the various operators fully complement our own extensive and wide-ranging marketing campaigns whether by traditional, press or digital means.  

The visitgozo.com portal is being continuously updated and improved both in content and technical improvements while a tender process is underway for the further development of the ‘GozoApp’ in line with current trends and innovations in this area and in order to strengthen the presence on social media and the digital promotion of Gozo. The Ministry also supports financially the Gozo Tourism Association (GTA) with respect to its own marketing initiatives specifically when attending fairs abroad as we also recognise this Association as being an important component of the success enjoyed today by this sector, which in turn is felt throughout our island’s economy.

There is also a currently a wide sense optimism and feel good factor in Gozo. We are witnessing new and ongoing investments by the Gozitan business community in the context of record employment levels and unprecedented economic growth for Gozo. We are determined to maintain this growth path. I am confident that we have all the right measures in place to ensure this will actually happen in the next years and beyond.

 

Dr Refalo is Minister for Gozo