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Hoteliers say Budget ‘well thought out’ but some matters outstanding
Rising cost of age-related health and elderly dependency need to be addressed sooner than later – MHRA
MHRA said that the increasing cost of health as the population of Malta grows older, and the cost of pensions as the ratio of working population to pensioners keeps declining, had to be addressed
The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association has welcomed the ambitious targets set by Budget 2015, noting the strategy to wean people off benefits and into work, saying that with some 7,000 people registering for employment, a large portion of employees working in the tourism as front liners are non-Maltese nationals.
MHRA said it was particularly pleased to note that the electricity tariffs will be reduced by 25 per cent from March 2015 and the water tariffs by 5 per cent.
“MHRA believe that there is a strong and growing market originating from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and consequently it was hoping that the MTA budget would be increased to take into consideration the effort that needs to be done in these countries to kick start tourism to Malta. Given the strong showing of the industry and the very strong impact this has on to government coffers wherein it is estimated that for every €100 euros spent by a tourist in Malta government gets €30 in taxes and this through the multiplier affect, It was hoped that government will be able to review upwards the allocation of resources to MTA,” the association said.
MHRA notes that a new bus operator will commence work in January and trusts that this new operator will provide an efficient and reliable service given that the cost of the subsidy will reach €23 million next year. “Transportation in both air and land are critical for Maltese tourism. We therefore expect that the best brains in Malta are deployed to ensure that both modes of transport are run efficiently and in a cost efficient manner. We cannot experiment anymore as time is running out,” MHRA president Matthew Pace said.
MHRA also said that the increasing cost of health as the population of Malta grows older, and the cost of pensions as the ratio of working population to pensioners keeps declining, had to be addressed. “The sooner one starts to address these issues the less painful the remedy will be,” Pace said.
