The Ministry of Tourism is presently also engaging with tour operators across the board to continue to plug the gaps where “ we understand there still are issues , such as flight timing and better-focused marketing . In fact , the issue of dropping the Frankfurt leg by Air Malta was solved through Lufthansa which offered equally good flight timings and connections to keep us well served for our needs .”
Minister Konrad Mizzi said : “ I am a strong believer that the tourism sector is one of those few sectors whereby the investment that the Government puts in and that put in by the private sector will result in a direct impact that will trickle through all the economies .”
This Ministry has secured EU Funds to the tune of Eur25 million for the regeneration of the lower Valletta / Marsamxett area alone
To give some examples , he said that if one were to look at the lower Valletta / Marsamxett area as an example , one would note that his Ministry has secured EU Funds to the tune of Eur25 million for this regeneration project alone . He also mentioned that the Chalet project in Sliema is another example of working with private enterprise , and in which , though ensuring and allowing public access to the beach , would nonetheless still operate as a concession and offer upmarket services . The scope is not only for the visitor to enjoy Malta but for the general public to do so too .
Minister Mizzi added that they are working on creating other attractions that would also be suitable for children , the disabled and senior citizens as a further boost to improve the Malta product . “ Additionally there are plans for directly attracting wedding and LGB Ttourism , religious tourism and cultural events ” he said .
ENCOURAGING GROWTH
Turning to the problem of finding enough local workers to continue to give the Malta product its real feel through which visitors would be able to experience Malta , the Minister said that although a number of students have opted for ICT and iGaming , he nonetheless feels that tourism can still offer exciting opportunities , “ especially now as we are striving to improve our product yet further and we are seeing increased opportunities as well .”
He added that at the moment they were working to attract more students to the ITS based on international training programmes they are working on to offer . It will be relocated to Smart City and will have an adjacent hotel and international students also studying here . He felt that “ We should be striving for a mixture of well trained local and foreign workers who can offer the visitor the Malta experience .” He explained that the limitations of the labour market are what they are and the growth we are enjoying cannot be satisfied by sourcing personnel solely locally ; the foreign worker is literally a must for this industry to thrive .”
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Issue 03
HOSPITALITY MALTA