The Proliferation of Investments
into commercial hospitality
When asked if the Authority is concerned about
whether this influx of private operators could induce
a reduction in investment from the hotels sector, Dr
Gulia was unphased and emphasised that hoteliers are
ever-investing in their properties. “One of the suc-
cesses of the industry is that whilst perhaps a few years
back hotels used to close in the winter season or want-
ed to move out of the industry due to lack of guests,
now hotels are temporarily halting operations for a few
weeks in the winter time to refurbish their properties.
Malta has also seen the rise of smaller operations such
as boutique hotels. These smaller operations serve a
newer profile of tourists visiting our shores. For in-
stance, in Valletta, boutique hotels have mushroomed
from two or three to around twenty five or thirty. This
is also possible due to Valletta having being Europe’s
2018 Capital of Culture. This has indeed left us with
a permanent legacy as these hotels did not stop op-
erating on the 1st January 2019 but have continued
operating and representing a different product to our
tourists.”
and despite the challenges we are faced with, the Au-
thority is doing all it can do to ensure proper regula-
tion and its efforts are yielding steady results. Never-
theless, there is a lot more to be done.”
The way forward
Dr Gulia stresses that there is room for more growth
but quality is imperative. There has been a narrative
that keeps coming into conversations that Malta does
not need more numbers and needs to cap, and Dr
Gulia disagrees. “There is marginal growth in August
– numbers are phenomenal here reaching 300,000
visitors but there is room for growth in months such as
February - it sees around 100,000 visitors. And this
too is an excellent result as one has to keep in mind
that a mere few years ago the number of visitors dur-
ing this period reached a maximum of circa 40,000.
The progression of quality boutique hotels into
Valletta has continued into 2019.
It is the Authority’s role then to ensure that there is
a level playing field between collective and private ac-
commodation. And the level playing field is achieved
by ensuring that the number of non-licensed opera-
tors in the private sector is kept to a bare minimum.
In fact this is where the Authority gets more pressure,
which, in Dr Gulia’s opinion is totally justified. He
explained that “being sensitive about this is important
the Authority is doing all it can do to
ensure proper regulation and its efforts
are yielding steady results
22
Issue 05
HOSPITALITY MALTA