Hospitality Malta 05 | Page 14

Excellence, values, empowerment – the key to success an interview with Dr Gavin Gulia, Executive Chairman of Malta Tourism Authority Hospitality Malta spoke at length with Dr Gavin Gulia, Executive Chairman at the Malta Tourism Authority. In a frank interview Dr Gulia explains in depth the recent restructuring at the Authority and the strategy adopted to empower the team in order to reach its demanding targets. Dr Gulia gives an honest portrayal of the challenges the Authority and the industry face but feels confident that these challenges are being tackled well. With a positive outlook for the industry Dr Gulia feels that the Authority has placed itself well to ensure that the desired standards are reached and surpassed. “T more Malta is con- nected and accessi- he ble, the better the results achieved.” This is the mantra which seems to have driven the MTA’s restructuring forward. As an Executive Chairman, Dr Gulia has stronger ac- cess to the facts and an elevated industry knowledge because of his day-to-day involvement in running the organisation, thus enhancing its speed and dynamism in today’s nimble and ever-changing tourism industry. On his appointment as Executive Chairman at the MTA, Dr Gulia explained that “a unified role en- sures strong, central leadership and increases ef- ficiency; a managerial role perforce gives a more thorough understanding of the organisation. And this provides advantages in both leadership and stra- tegic direction.” Expediency-enhancing Structure 12 Issue 05 Gavin Gulia explains that by combining the role of Chairman with that of Chief Executive, supported by two Deputy CEO’s and by redesigning the Authori- ty’s structure, the concept of the executive is still very much present. HOSPITALITY MALTA