The Prime Minister Dr.Lawrence Gonzi met on Monday evening with the representatives of the Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association to discuss the current situation in the Maltese tourism industry. Dr Gonzi announced new schemes to boost the fledgling industry.
He said the Government’s intention is to develop new air routes, including Luton in England, Basel in Switzerland, Gerona in Spain, Lisbon in Portugal, Turin and Verona in Italy, Shannon or Cork in Ireland and Varsavia in Poland. Government will give Lm1 million to promote these new routes which hopefuly, will attract new airlines and bring more tourists in spring, autumn and winter.
Another scheme will contribute towards more advertising from the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) to attract more tourists especially during winter time.
The third scheme is a new website, to be launched by next summer, to take tourists’ bookings for flights, hotels, car rentals and excursions.
The fourth scheme will halve the contribution made by operators in the tourism sector to the MTA as from next year. The balance, half a million liri, will be administered by the operators themselves. Furthermore government will allocate half a million more liri to MTA.
Moreover the Air Malta will not have to keep on paying its contribution of Lm300,000 a year to the MTA and all the contributions it paid since the time Malta became part of the European Union will be given back.
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