Restaurants' turnover increases by 9.8%

Restaurant turnover increased by 9.8% in 2011 when compared to the previous year. This emerged from the first Deloitte Restaurant Survey presented this morning at a seminar organised by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA).

The business performance survey results were based on the submissions of restaurants with an estimated annual turnover in excess of 22 million.

The majority of respondents, 83%, reported an increase in turnover in 2011 and the positive results were carried over to 2012, as turnover increased by 2.4% in the first eight months of the year.

MHRA president Tony Zahra hailed the first ever restaurants survey and pledged to continue backing initiatives which provide timely market intelligence "which will enable restaurants to be better placed to continue to effectively manage their business."

Restaurants also incurred a net 5.6% increase in operating costs in the first eight months of this year. On the other hand, the highest rate of growth in sales in 2012 was registered in the St Julian's area, which registered a 5.7% growth.

Deloitte's Raphael Aloisio noted that while St Julian's and other areas registered growth, the Sliema and Gzira area restaurants suffered a dip in business.  

Aloisio added that between 2010 and 2011, employment in the restaurant sector increased by 4.1%.

However, one of the main findings of the report, indicates that operators feel the market is becoming over-saturated and one of the main challenges the industry is facing is staff recruitment.

A number of restaurant operators commented that they are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit staff and added that procedures to engage non-Maltese nationals are too cumbersome.

Other concerns which surfaced from the survey were the high utility bill and unauthorized and unlicensed competition such as venues catering for group meals.

Leslie Vella from the Malta Tourism Authority explained that in a separate survey conducted by the authority, different behavior patterns were identified by holding research within three different client bases.

The MTA survey interviewed tourists who visited Malta ion summer, tourists who visited in winter and local clients. Up to 60% of the Maltese eat out at least once a month.

The survey was held in order to understand the changing landscape in the industry and identify the preferences of different market audiences.  The survey indicates that the demand for healthy and local food is on the up, while one of the main concerns was in regards to language barriers, especially by Italian, French and Spanish tourists.

The MTA survey included a number of suggestions such as investing in innovative concepts, have a strong online presence, improve accessibility and make businesses more eco-friendly.