|
James Debono
Government had been warned of the departure of major tour operators over ten months ago, but despite the timely warning, the Malta Tourism Authority is now desperately trying to clinch a deal with First Choice to avoid an exodus of tour operators from Malta who might follow suit.
On Monday an emergency meeting was held between the Malta Tourism Authority, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association and representatives of tour operator First Choice, which is seriously considering pulling out of the Maltese market.
The tour operating company is demanding a hefty sum from the MTA to continue o offering discounted rates for tourists visiting Malta.
In a meeting held 10 months ago, Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech had been warned that First Choice was seriously considering pulling out from Malta.
In a meeting between six market leaders and the minister back in May 2005, managing director Michael Zammit Tabona of the Fortina Spa Resort told Zammit Dimech that unless Malta becomes more saleable in countries like the UK, operators like First Choice selling Malta at a discount, will pull out. “This was said in the most uncertain terms to the minister,” Zammit Tabona told MaltaToday, about his warning that major tour operators were ready to leave the island unless it becomes more saleable.
Asked whether preventive measures were taken to prevent the scenario, a spokesperson for minister Francis Zammit Dimech said dealing with operators was one of the Malta Tourism Authority’s core functions: “These dealings are very confidential and the worst that could happen to our tourism sector is to publicly talk about arrangements with tour operators.”
MTA would not comment on the outcome of last Monday’s meeting: “This is an issue of a highly sensitive commercial nature, and it would be totally irresponsible for anyone concerned to give details at this juncture.”
But the MTA says it was among the first to be made aware of the tour operator’s predicament and as a result, “discussions with the company and the Maltese agents began almost immediately.”
Hotelier Michael Zammit Tabona disputes this claim, saying that little was done since the minister was alerted last year. “Why should we always react when our back is against the wall?”
Tabona warns that if one major tour operator departs, other tour operators would follow. “When the ball rolled in another direction, big tour operators flocked to Malta one after the other. Throughout the 1970s, 1980 and 1990s if you were a big player in the market you had to feature in Malta. Otherwise you would have lost a market share. Now the ball is rolling in the other direction.”
Hotelier Kevin Decesare told MaltaToday that tour operators are offering enormous discounts to tourists in order to sell Malta as a destination. This has led to a situation where tour operators are demanding more money from MTA to make up for their losses. “It risks opening up a pandora’s box,” Decesare said.
Another major hotelier, Anglu Xuereb, said he has little problems in getting business people to Malta, but the situation as regards tourists brought by tour operators is very bad. “When it comes to mass tourism we compete with destinations like Tunisia whose labour costs are very low and where a number of hotels only open in summer.”
Zammit Tabona says the tour operators with the greater leverage in the choice of destination made by the typical UK tourist are those with chains of high street travel agencies in every British town.
“In these travel agencies they only push those destinations included in their brochure. If tour operators pull out, Malta will no longer be included in their brochures, and these travel agencies will no longer push Malta in their high street shops.
“Unless we have guts and courage to stop this ball rolling against us and unless we are able to kick this ball with the most powerful kick uphill, we have the end of tourism as we know it,” Zammit Tabona warns.
Added to that is a risk of Malta becoming a seasonal destination in which hotels open from April to October with staff being recruited on a seven-month basis. Currently hotels make up for the loss-making winter months by profits made during the summer. But since Malta is losing its competitive edge in summer, the situation could become unsustainable.
Zammit Tabona is irked that a number of concrete proposals made during the May 2005 meeting were ignored. One of these was for MTA adverts promoting Malta to carry a price and a telephone number of the tour operators attached to them, encouraging people to buy a package.
“Malta cannot be advertised in a vacuum. An advert without a phone and a price is simply not effective,” Zammit Tabona says.
The idea of this campaign was to incorporate tour operators within the advertising campaign in a way that they would also fund it. Zammit Tabona is disappointed by the MHRA’s “very weak reaction” in the face of the perils facing the industry. “I was vice president when Dom Mintoff was prime minister. We were never afraid to fight for our rights. It is about time that our union stands up for our rights. Our union should direct all members to stop paying funds to MTA and instead pay them to MHRA which will surely make a better use of them.”
The way forward
Kevin Decesare says that statistics show that while the Mediterranean basin as a whole has had a five per cent increase in tourists, Malta’s share has increased by a sheer 14,000 tourists.
“The way out consists of upgrading the product and opening up to low cost airlines. The government should negotiate directly with Ryan Air and other low cost airlines, with an open mind and this has to happen immediately.”
Decesare insists the government should be represented in these negotiations by its highest ranks and not by some bureaucrats. He remarked that although Malta is very expensive, its product is not up to standard. According to Decesare the only way to upgrade the product is through more discipline and higher standards.
Anglu Xuereb says the electricity surcharge has been a devastating blow to tourism. “We have negotiated package prices with tour operators more than a year ago before the imposition of the surcharge. Now we cannot revise these prices and we end up losing money during the summer months.”
According to Xuereb the way forward for tourism is to attract more high quality tourists because competing with destinations like Tunisia is virtually impossible. “When we compete for mass tourism we compete with countries like Tunisia where many hotels close in winter, employ students and rely on cheap labour. They have enough beaches.”
The major mistake according to Xuereb is that Malta lacks the facilities to accommodate these tourists. He also laments the lack of promotion of Malta’s history and culture. Xuereb argues that indirect promotion through documentaries, films and books on Malta’s heritage can be more effective than direct marketing.
“We just need more creativity to move forward. Just imagine the impact of a blockbuster film on the Great Siege of Malta,” Xuereb says, but it might take more than the magic of the Lord of the Rings, which made New Zealand a popular destination, to restore Malta’s fortunes.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
|
