WELCOME SPEECH BY HON. MICHAEL REFALO, MINISTER FOR TOURISM, ON THE OCCASION OF SKAL'S INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS, AT THE MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE CENTRE, VALLETTA

Your Excellency, Professor de Marco, President of Malta,

Mr. Richard Hawkins, SKAL International President,

Distinguished guests, and all Skalleagues here with us this morning for your organisation's 61^st. International Congress, welcome to Malta.

Just over a decade ago, this auditorium, this country, hosted a very significant event in world history, the Bush - Gorbachev Summit. An event that signalled the end of the Cold War. It bequeathed to the world in general, and to present and future generations, in particular, a great opportunity for mankind to live in an atmosphere of lasting peace.

It seems however that not all nations in the Mediterranean have fully grasped the basic and all important message of that very momentous meeting. Contrary to all hopes and expectations, the past decade has witnessed smouldering, intermittent hostilities in the Middle East, terrorism, the Gulf War and Kosovo.

It is therefore appropriate that your meeting in Malta following the unfortunate cancellation of your original choice, Jerusalem, focuses on a most relevant and very topical theme that of "Peace and Tourism."

Malta is fully committed to the cause of peace.

Tourism, especially Mediterranean tourism, so valuable a tool for the forging of alliances and the bringing together of the peoples of the region, can only flourish and prosper in times and in an atmosphere of peace.

2000 has not been an easy year for Mediterranean tourism where overall, and in most destinations, supply exceeds demand. However, were it not for the tragic happenings of the last few weeks when again violence spread in the Middle East and terrorism raised its ugly head in Spain, 2000 would have passed without incident, with all Mediterranean destinations open for business and keenly competing for custom.

In this scenario, in a year when major tour operators reduced programmes to most destinations, when Malta and the Mediterranean began to feel the pinch of globalisation, when overall demand softened, with a weak Euro depreciating against sterling and the dollar making destination Malta uncompetitive in most of our source markets, that we have managed to consolidate the gains achieved in record year 1999, is no small feat.

Tourism is essential for Malta's economic wellbeing. The industry contributes 25% of GNP, a fifth of government revenue and, through its ripple effect, to a third of the total number of gainfully employed.

The effects of globalisation are with us. They are very real and certain to impact even further. For the immediate future I cannot envisage much change to prevailing conditions and we in Malta have to brace ourselves to meet the challenges of 2001 and beyond.

We must therefore pursue with the industry's repositioning and restructuring process. Government and the trade must continue to work together and see through the major strategic decisions we took in the course of this year. We must work even harder to match and improve upon 2000 results.

I am firmly convinced, however, that Malta's tourist industry is capable and resilient enough to ensure that that we will come through these trying times, and also that we will come out much stronger and even better than we are today.

To achieve this objective we in Malta must ensure that we harness and gain from the effects of globalisation. That we, and here I refer to all Mediterranean countries, find common platforms and instruments which will make for a more environmentally sustainable and socially just region. A region where peace spurs tourism to greater heights. A region where tourism through the millions of this great and ever increasing movement of peoples, can forge a lasting peace for all the peoples of our region.

Thank you SKAL for meeting in Malta,

Thank you for focusing on the values of peace,

Thank you for your attention.