Reconstituted intergroup on tourism ‘major achievement’ says MEP

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) welcomed the re-establishment of an Intergroup on Tourism in the European Parliament, deemed a "major achievement" by the tourism industry across Europe.

Metsola, who forms part of the intergroup and was a firm supporter of its re-establishment, said: "Setting up this intergroup was crucial; tourism is a mainstay of the Maltese economy, contributing about 29% of GDP, and travel and tourism is responsible for 22 million jobs across Europe."

“Apart from this intergroup, the European Parliament also has an official standing Committee dealing with Transport and Tourism. Although none of Malta's MEPs are formal members of the European Parliament's Transport and Tourism Committee, I have been following the committee's work closely and will continue to keep all the local stakeholders updated with any developments."

MHRA chief executive officer Andrew Agius Muscat said Europe had the potential to be a more dynamic tourism economy, but reform was urgently needed to create a playing field that is globally competitive on regulation. “We need improved administration of the issuance of visas and new measures to make trade across borders easy as well as free. Achieving this needs close collaboration between policy-makers and industry a dialogue the new Intergroup is ideally placed to facilitate.”

The establishment of an intergroup requires the support of at least three political groups; MEPs voted on their priority list of intergroups (which is limited to 28) in November and approved it during the last plenary session. The purpose of intergroups is for MEPs to look at a specific issue or set of issues and they will often consider legislation and convene interested parties.