CONCLUDING ADDRESS BY THE HON. MICHAEL REFALO, MINISTER FOR TOURISM, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE GOZO TOURISM ASSOCIATION COMMISSIONED REPORT ON GOZO TOURISM

CONCLUDING ADDRESS BY THE HON. MICHAEL REFALO, MINISTER FOR TOURISM, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE GOZO TOURISM ASSOCIATION COMMISSIONED REPORT ON GOZO TOURISM AT THE HOTEL PHOENICIA MERIDIEN, FLORIANA

The report which the Gozo Tourism Association has launched this morning is a milestone event. Not only because of its contents and proposals but also because it conveys an underlying and very eloquent message.

A message that clearly shows that the majority of Gozo's operators have embarked on a new approach towards tourism. It confirms a most welcome change of attitude; one that I encountered, and recently had the pleasure to underscore, during one of the periodic meetings which my colleague, the Minister for Gozo, and I, hold for the Gozo trade.

We meet to keep in close touch, to discuss and plan how best Gozo's hoteliers, restauranteurs, travel agents, ground handlers and tourism operators should meet the different challenges which they, as distinct from their mainland counterparts, must face in the course of their working day.

At the risk of offending some of our friends and neighbours to the north of the Maltese archipelago, it is now abundantly evident that the vast majority of Gozitan operators have shed and discarded that mentalita' assistenziale which for decades had typified and moulded thought and attitudes.

Gozo's trade no longer labours under the Sicilian Syndrome mind set: a frame of mind which, from an outsider's perspective, apparently still pervades the lives, approach and attitude of many operators in what is potentially one of the most attractive and desirable of Mediterranean tourism destinations.

In stark contrast, the clear signal, which the Gozo Report transmits, is that Gozo's tourism operators are proud of their island birth and do not consider themselves at all penalised because they were not born on their other side of the Gozo Channel. That they are not content to exist and subsist on low occupancies, a short season and day trippers' revenue. That rather than clamouring for help and handouts they have gone ahead professionally to find answers to questions which have hung over Gozitan tourism like dark, impenetrable clouds.

The Sicilian parallel is happily no more. The setting up of the Gozo Tourism Association and the bringing together of all tourism interests was a break with the past. Since then, GTA has slowly but very definitely carved out its very own particular niche in the broad church of our country's tourism industry.

The Association has filled a long felt void and performed the invaluable role of giving the many, varied, and sometimes diverse interests, of Gozo's tourism a corporate identity. Moreover, GTA establishes a forum and gives a stronger voice to the Gozitan trade. Furthermore it provides a channel through which Gozo can make a more tangible contribution to the national tourism agenda, to Malta Tourism Authority initiatives as well as to national organisations such as MHRA, MAITA and others to which many of its members belong.

That GTA commissioned the Gozo report was already a significant event. That it has sought out the expertise of Professor Terry Stevens and his team from Stevens and Associates, even more so. Professor Stevens is no newcomer to Malta and Gozo. He was a member of the Howarth & Howarth team which drew up the 1989 Master Plan and has been a regular visitor ever since. More importantly, Professor Stevens knows Malta and loves Gozo.

My congratulations to you Professor Stevens and to your team for so concisely pin-pointing Gozo's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and giving the benefit of your views on the way in which Gozo's undoubted potential can be maximised within the parameters set by the tenets of sustainable development.

Previous speakers, not least Professor Stevens, have presented and elaborated on various aspects of the report. Malta Tourism Authority Chairman Dr. Grech places the findings and proposals of the Gozo Report within the context of MTA's current three year Strategic Plan where GTA's contribution is duly recorded.

The report proposes further research and study in a number of areas and, in the process of delivering a longer term National Strategic Plan for the industry, I believe that the Authority could favourably consider taking on board some research and reporting proposals suggested by Professor Stevens and his team. In the meantime additional GTA study and research would certainly be useful and welcome.

While it is of the essence that Gozo's particular profile and specific identity as a distinct tourism destination must be further emphasised, in tourism terms one must however avoid the temptation to plan and act as if Gozo were separate from Malta and indeed Malta divorced from Gozo.

Gozitan operators know that the Authority, as did NTOM before it, understands and realises that Gozo is a national tourism asset. Tourism assets are never hidden but, on the contrary, put proudly and very visibly on display, well marketed and publicised. That is what MTA does. I was indeed pleased that Minister Debono had the opportunity to witness all this at first hand when she visited ITB in March this year.

She will also be the first to confirm my not always favourable remarks about the Gozo trade's past participation, mainly consisting of handing out brochures, at major tourism fairs. For some time now the most effective thrust at international tourism bourses is the conclusion of business with operators, the discovery of new ideas and the search for new business contacts.

The real business, however, is done during the rest of the year through marketing trips, publicity, by cultivating contacts with operators and the specialised media. Since the 1999 edition of London's World Travel Market GTA's participation has taken a more professional approach as it corporately and pro-actively looks for more business for Gozo.

May I now draw your attention to a very pertinent, strategic statement which the report makes. "The existing data and statistical base on tourism in Gozo has many gaps. The situation needs to be improved as a matter of urgency."

What the Stevens' report highlights here is not that no data exists; not that no data collecting and collating system is in place; but that the data which a number of operators provide is at best incomplete. In other words, data is either not supplied and, when provided by those that do, it does not fully reflect the extent of operations, employment and turn over.

What the report's authors are telling defaulting Gozitan operators is only their nice way of advising them that economy with the truth is not in their interest. Correct strategic decisions can only be made when all factors in the equation, including historical evidence and current trends, are examined and taken into account. Statistics which do not mirror the truth are misleading and dangerous.

Guestimates and rule of thumb calculations diminish credibility and value. For a report to be meaningful and useful for the making of educated decisions it should present undisputed fact not fiction. I therefore echo Professor Stevens' call to all Gozitan tour operators to be more forthcoming with complete data.

If that also means more tax to pay it also reflects increased returns, more success as well as more money for the Government to spend on Gozo's needs.

The report underlines that the last two years have witnessed a significant increase in the number of guest nights in the serviced sector. This is a most welcome development but Gozo's hoteliers will share my concern that many operations are still far from achieving viability. This is precisely why Gozitan tourism operators must reach out to embrace those who till now have just been peripheral players in the Gozo tourism scene.

Very aptly and correctly the report places a strong emphasis on niche markets and proposes closer and mutually beneficial synergies with cultural, sport and other activity organisers and events. It is manifestly clear that in these areas Gozo, while retaining its unspoilt character, can capitalise on already existing infrastructure and the vast pool of volunteer resources which is so prominent and determining in all that Gozo achieves.

Two theatres and two operas annually. How about one festival with Victoria's philarmonic clubs taking turns at staging an annual opera production and in the year when one stages grand opera the other organises an equally high profile and attractive classical music programme?

A programme of vocal and instrumental concerts as well as other cultural events during the days preceding and following the opera performances? And why not, for good measure, hold parallel folk festivals, brass band fiestas and other open air entertainment?

Just imagine the draw which an annual, well marketed fortnight's festival of cultural and musical activities in the low or shoulder month season! It is events such as this that attract sponsorship and audiences to fill hotel rooms for longer than overnight stays in the leaner months!

Up to now opera has been one way of attracting domestic tourism from Malta to Gozo. The report, and Mr. Muscat's statement in yesterday's Gozo supplement, confirm the value of Maltese vacationers to Gozo's economy. Mr. Muscat was very right in highlighting this point and advising suppliers to desist from attitudes and pricing policies which put people off from holidaying in Gozo.

Gozo is justly famous for diving holidays and, as the London Times survey of Mediterranean diving resorts has just informed its readers "The smaller island of Gozo boasts some of the most dramatic diving, with steep cliffs that plunge into the depths creating spectacular underwater rock formations: Cathedral Cave, the Blue Hole and the Azure Window are among some of the best known sites."

But then diving is only one of many activity holiday pastimes which draw holiday makers seeking relaxation in peaceful surroundings to Gozo. Sailing and water sports are mainly shoulder and summer month activities. When Gozo is equipped with such a first class sports centre capable of hosting events throughout the year why is so little done to attract events? Perhaps Gozitan sport organisations are not strong enough to attract overseas participants and international competitions, however shopping for custom through their Malta based national associations is an avenue worth exploring.

There is however one sports activity, golf, about which much has been said and written but very little done to date. The site of the proposed Ta' Cenc golf course is privately owned. There is no dispute with tenant farmers and, as adequate environmental safeguards have been committed to protect the environment, enhance and better present the site's heritage, all one needs now is for the Planning Authority to get things moving.

The construction of a golf course in Gozo will attract low season golfers to Malta and to all of Gozo's four and five star hotels, villa properties and other self catering accommodation. It is all of Malta and Gozo's accommodation providers, not just the Hotel ta' Cenc, that stand to benefit from another golf course and enjoy better occupancy levels mainly in the winter and shoulder months.

Golf extends the season, increases the length of stay and makes the Gozo Report's targets much more achievable. Golf, as the Algarve experience, among others, has shown, gives to a resort that qualitative branding which, in turn, is reflected on other less high profile tourism services and activities.

What about English language teaching on a one to one basis in Gozitan hotels? There are presently in Malta ministers, politicians and civil servants from one EU candidate country who are following TEFL courses. Could not the same course have been organised in Gozo? There are a myriad holiday ideas, such as walking, cycling and painting to which Gozo's scenery, ambience and environment adapt so well and easily.

On the tourism earnings aspect I have a distinct feeling that the income statistics which the report throws up are under stated. However I would certainly go along with the authors' comment that to achieve operational viability Gozo's accommodation sector needs additional occupancy levels and more importantly higher revenue earnings.

The Gozitan trade knows that as from summer 2001 Government has decided that the Tour Operator Support Scheme will also be performance based. We have made it a point to encourage UK and Irish tour operators to organise increased programmes for Gozo as the scheme envisages bigger bonuses for tour operators for improved performances.

Act XII of 1999, which established the Malta Tourism Authority, provides further incontrovertible evidence of Government's commitment to the success and well being of Gozitan tourism. The Act binds the minister to nominate a person with a proven knowledge of Gozo tourism to the Authority's executive board and directorates.

Gozo, while promotionally a distinct destination, is in all other respects fully integrated within the national tourism mainstream and structures. I would, at this stage, consider it unwise to proceed with some of the report's suggestions especially those that tend to duplicate national programmes or effectively divorce Gozo from Malta.

Luckily the Ministry for Gozo is in the enviable position to apply ministry funds and resources across a much wider spectrum of activities and programmes. The report mentions areas where the Gozo Ministry's infrastructural and logistic support are required. In this respect I am certain that the Ministry will consider the adoption of a number of suggestions to provide Gozitan tourism with an even more targeted operational sense of direction, one that will certainly lead to more co-ordinated planning and a better product.

The measures advocated in the concluding part of the report require a strong political will complemented by active popular support. It very rightly emphasises that "It is now time for a change and for the Gozitan community and the tourist industry to work together to establish a vision for tourism in Gozo for 2005 and beyond."

Luckily, that vision coincides and falls within the wider vista of Malta's EU membership bid. In this context one expects Gozo, as a region, to be a major beneficiary and gain significant advantage in the way of funding and expertise during the pre and immediate post accession timeframes.

Government has the political will and my colleague, Minister Debono, has always been unwaveringly steadfast in all that she does in Gozo's interest. It is therefore my earnest hope that the vast majority of Gozo's tourism operators as well as all other stakeholders who provide services to Gozo's tourist industry, will follow Minister Debono's lead and spur their fellow men and women to ensure long term sustainability and success for an industry that benefits all.