CEO's resignation unrelated to frosty relationship with Gulia - minister

Tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis says Josef Formosa Gauci called it a day as MTA chief because he needed a change 

Malta Tourism Authority CEO Josef Formosa Gauci. Photo by Ray Attard
Malta Tourism Authority CEO Josef Formosa Gauci. Photo by Ray Attard
Tourism Minister, Edward Zammit Lewis. Photo by Ray Attard
Tourism Minister, Edward Zammit Lewis. Photo by Ray Attard
Tourism Minister and outgoing MTA CEO on Josef Formosa Gauci’s resignation

Tourism minister Edward Zammit Lewis played down reports that outgoing CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) Josef Formosa Gauci handed in his resignation due to a poor working relationship with the Authority’s Chairman - and Labour candidate in last year’s general election - Gavin Gulia.

Formosa Gauci, who has been in the role for the past six years and promoted under the previous government administration, handed in his resignation earlier this week, with the relationship between himself and Guliabelieved to be a factor.

“He informed me of his decision to step down citing the fact that he had been in the role for six years and felt he needed a change,” Zammit Lewis said. “The relationship between him and Gulia became public knowledge through the media but I am sure that this was not the reason for his resignation.”

Formosa Gauci himself reiterated this stance when speaking to this newspaper and said that he would stay on to ensure a smooth transition. “It’s a situation where I’ve held the post for six years – during which time we’ve done our best to get the good results which we have,” he said. “You then get to the stage where you take stock of the situation and you decide that you’ve done something for a period of time, it’s now time to say let me try and see if other things can develop.”

“I showed (the minister) my professionalism – I am not going to get up and leave – I want to ensure sure that for, the good of the industry, there is a smooth transition.”

The minister, along with Formosa Gauci, was attending a presentation carried out by the Malta International Airport on the traffic highlights of the first six months of the year.

Among the most salient factors outlined in the presentation was a 7.7% increase in passenger traffic, a 7.5% rise in aircraft movements and an increase of 7% in airline seat capacity.

Meanwhile, the top-performing airlines are Air Malta, RyanAir, Easyjet, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Emirates, in that order.

Furthermore, whilst London, Frankfurt and Rome remain the most visited destinations for outbound passengers, nationals from the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, France are the most common inbound passengers.

Libya has also provided a big increase in inbound passengers but this is most likely down to the turmoil currently ongoing in the North African country, according to Malta InternationalChairman, Markus Klaushofer.