ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE MINISTER FOR TOURISM DR MICHAEL REFALO ON THE OCCASION OF THE INSTITUTE FOR TOURISM STUDIES (ITS) GRADUATION CEREMONY at the Mediterranean Conference Centre

1000 follow ITS courses in 2000 / 2001.

New ITS course introduced.

Tourism Ministry – University agree on full degree course in tourism studies.

Chairman, members of the Board of Governors, Director General, Distinguished Guests, members of the ITS Academic body and administrative staff, ladies and gentlemen and, in particular, graduands, I welcome you all to this evening's ceremony.

Although this is not the first time that I have had the pleasure, honour and privilege to preside over an ITS Graduation Ceremony, in fact it is either the eighth or ninth time, on each and every occasion, I am filled with a feeling of elation and satisfaction.

The very same feeling of pride and enthusiasm which you parents, you lecturers, you administrators, as well as everybody in this hall, feel, simply because we know that we have all contributed towards the fulfillment of the dreams and ambitions of the young men and women, who this evening, reach a very important milestone along the path of their chosen career.

Conscious of the important role which tourism plays in the social and economic development of our country, of its dynamism and of the satisfaction that it brings, an ever larger number of young Maltese men and women now choose tourism as a career. They fully recognise its potential and appreciate its opportunities.

ITS opened its doors for Academic Year 2000 / 20001, to greet a student population of 700 full time students. Add to those another 84 who follow the ESTS course which the Institute organises in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and the ETC, a further 29 who attend part time courses at the ITS Campus in Gozo, plus the February 200l intake of yet another 111 who took specific modules, which means, that in year 2000 / 2001, close to a thousand young men and women followed a hospitality and catering training course.

Dependent as Malta is on the ongoing success and progress of tourism, it is the Institute's mission to annually provide the industry with a steady stream of well trained professionals. Another factor in the equation is the industry's qualitative and quantitative expansion. The greater, therefore, the demand for more and better trained staff.

This time last year I announced that the Ministry had commissioned two studies. One, a human resource audit, from the Malta Tourism Authority, whose findings will be presented to the trade and media later on this month, The other, a tracer study, from ITS, to establish how many ITS students since the Institute's foundation in 1988, still work in the hospitality and allied industries. And furthermore to inquire why those that left moved to other fields.

The tracer study will be ready by October, but preliminary results show that close to 70% of ITS graduates still follow their chosen career. Given the great job mobility which exists both locally and overseas in the hospitality industry, this is an extremely positive and encouraging result. However complacency is certainly not on the menu. The Ministry is fully aware that, especially in the Food and Beverage Service sector, the trade requires an even greater influx of trained personnel.

Therefore, as from next academic year, ITS will introduce a new, one year, multi-disciplinary, foundation course, which includes a local industrial placement. This should go along way to satisfy the industry's demands. It is based on a fast track system which equips students with a flexibility of skills. I am informed that since the course was launched a fortnight ago ITS was flooded by requests for information and applications.

My counterparts in EU member and candidate states tell me about the dearth in their countries of young people who wish to make a career in tourism, of the numerous job vacancies, of the number of unskilled and untrained school leavers, who work for short periods in hotels and restaurants only to seek other employment at the end of summer.

Not only do these facts alone show up the falsity of the claims made by those who forecast floods of unemployed workers descending upon us following Malta's accession to the European Union, but also the many opportunities that exist in Malta and overseas for well qualified personnel.

The Malta Tourism Authority has successfully joined the European Union's Leonardo Programme and 40 persons currently working in the industry will soon be proceeding overseas to improve and further perfect their skills and knowledge.

Malta's needs for professionals are not limited to craft level. We require professionals at planning and higher management level, in the private sector but perhaps more in the public sector. I was therefore delighted when agreement was reached with the University Authorities to ensure that students from the 1997 intake, when entry qualifications were inexplicably lowered, enabling ITS graduates to enrol for the B.Comm. (Tourism) Course. Come October, eleven ITS graduates from that student intake will follow a course at the University.

International and practical exposure is essential for all those who wish to join the industry. That is how academic and craft knowledge can be put to the test and measured against real life benchmarks. During this academic year as many as 120 ITS students were found international internships, which, since 1999 are of twelve months duration rather than the previous four month stint. Close to that number will be going overseas this year while a further 200 will be working in Maltese and Gozitan hotels, with more as guides, in travel agencies and as animateurs.

We have however set our sights much higher. As I announced last year we are now after a fully fledged, stand alone course in tourism open to all those who qualify for University entry irrespective of whether one is an ITS graduate or otherwise.

Agreement on course content is all but concluded and were it not for the current dispute which involves the University's academic body I would have been able to announce this evening that a course leading to a full degree in Tourism would be included in the University's Prospectus for 2001 / 2002.

The post of Director General at the ITS had been vacant since Professor Di Mauro's resignation in October 1996. Early last year following an international call for applications ITS recruited the services and expertise of Mr. Philip Gibbs who took over his new appointment with great energy and enthusiasm in the first week of September 2000.

ITS management has embarked on an extensive upgrading and refurbishment programme both at the San Gorg Campus and the Pembroke Campus as visitors to the Institute and its restaurants will notice when facilities and the restaurants re-open for the general public.

Moreover the library has been given a facelift, a new computer lab has been installed, an educational vineyard has been planted while other major works to the structure will be completed by the time the new intake joins us in September 2001.

Allow me Ladies and Gentlemen to address my final words to our graduands. You have all chosen an exciting career in a dynamic industry which will give you great satisfaction. It is however no bed of roses and demands much personal dedication and sacrifice.

You have received the tools and the training to follow your chosen career. The doors of opportunity are open wide. Go out, work hard, enjoy yourself, see that others enjoy themselves, and make a great success of your careers. My best wishes and prayers, as those of every one in this hall, go with you.