Hoteliers welcome best Santa Marija feast for Gozo in seven years

Thousands of tourists visited Gozo this week for the ‘Santa Marija’ public holiday. All the Gozitan hotels were completely packed and some people who travelled to Gozo with their own private boats did not find available space to dock them.   

Gozo Tourism Association chairman Joe Muscat told Sunday newspaper Illum that last weekend proved popular amongst both Maltese and foreign tourists.    

“All 1734 beds in all nine Gozitan hotels are taken up, mostly by foreign tourists,” Muscat said. “Most Maltese tourists had to rent out farmhouses or apartments instead.”

Kenneth Cutajar, owner of restaurants in Marsalforn and Xlendi, said that “foreign tourists tend to eat out earlier in the day than Maltese ones.”

“At 11pm we convert our restaurants into bars where Maltese people can enjoy themselves,” Cutajar said.

“Restaurants in Marsalforn are also benefitting from the Gozo Minister’s decision to allow restaurants to place tables on the pavement in front of their buildings,” Cutajar added.

Frank Said, owner of the only Indian restaurant in Xlendi, described this year’s ‘Santa Marija’ weekend as “the best Gozo has witnessed in the past seven years.”

“Since the TripAdvisor travel website was launched, more Maltese and foreign tourists have been visiting Gozo’s restaurants,” Said said.

“It’s not true that Maltese tourists only come to Gozo for ‘Santa Marija’ because they can’t afford a holiday abroad,” Said said. “They come here because visiting Gozo for ‘Santa Marija’ has become a tradition.”

 “We are expecting another wave of Maltese tourists in the coming weeks,” Said added.

Read the full story in Sunday’s edition of ILLUM