Mr Sam Mifsud was appointed as the new Chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority with effect from 1st September 2006. Mr Mifsud will take over the Authority after Mr Romwald Lungaro Mifsud steps down from the post of Executive Chairman of MTA on 31st August.
Mr Sam Mifsud was appointed on Thursday by the Minister for Tourism and Culture Francis Zammit Dimech and will hold the post for two years. In the meantime he will be acting as Designate Chairman and will form part of the Selection Board that will be choosing a new CEO for the Authority from among applicants for the post, following a public call.
Mr Mifsud’s appointment follows intensive consultations carried out by Dr Francis Zammit Dimech, the Minister for Tourism and Culture with various stakeholders representing the tourism industry. Mr Mifsud was recommended by five different associations out of the seven consulted, and in two cases was nominated on an exclusive basis.
He has extensive experience of various aspects of the tourism industry. Since 2005 has been appointed Managing Director of S. Mifsud & Sons and has been working very hard to extend the cruise liner business in Malta, apart from developing various different fields of the tourism industry.
In turn, Maltese passengers for May 2006 reached a total of 21,870. Of these, 17,651 travelled by air, an increase of 47.1% when compared to the same month last year. The overseas stay of the majority of Maltese air passengers – around 97.1%, did not exceed six months.
According to statistics published by the National Statistics Office (NSO) between January and May 2006, the number of Maltese passengers departing by air and sea amounted to 83,203, an increase of 7.0% over the same period a year ago. Of these, around 97.3% spent less than 6 months away from Malta.
In the period under review, the most frequent destination was Italy, accounting for 28.3% of the total number of Maltese travelling abroad by air and sea. This was followed by other main destinations - United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany.
In the first five months of 2006, male outbound passengers significantly exceeded female ones, the former accounting for 63.0 % of the total.
The greatest proportion of outbound passengers at 46.3 % were aged 25-44 years, followed by passengers in the 45-64 and 15-24-year age brackets, at 43.0% and 6.2 % respectively.
See also:
Over 17,000 Maltese outbound passengers
By Giselle Borg Olivier
May 16, 2006, 17:59 CET
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