Hotel industry cautiously optimistic for months ahead

There is optimism that tourism will recover in the months ahead, chief lobbyist Tony Zahra said but cautioned that the challenges are not yet over.

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association President said that tourism is a resilient economic sector and this allows for optimistic forecasts.

He said the data from the Deloitte quarterly results study supported such an outlook but warned that it was “critical not to take such forecasts as guaranteed results.”

The study released today shows that despite COVID-19 making for three very challenging quarters last year, tourist arrivals in the fourth quarter were fairly encouraging, reaching  62% of arrivals over the same quarter in 2019.

Looking at 2021 as a whole, arrivals only amounted to 35% of 2019 levels. However, the subdued level of arrivals in 2021 still surpassed 2020 levels by 46.9%.

Zahra called for the remaining COVID restrictions to be removed immediately in order for Malta to remain a competitive destination in the region.

The study illustrated that although the average daily spend from tourists decreased by approximately 15%, the longer average length of stay in Q4 resulted in total tourist expenditure for the quarter still reaching 65% of 2019 levels.

Occupancy rates for four and five star hotels were hit hard and slashed by half for both groups of hotels. Despite this severe blow a combination of improved rates, reduced costs and COVID wage supplements enabled 5-star hotels to register a gross operating profit of €6.169k for the quarter.

Zahra also recognized the efforts made by government and MHRA members to keep the industry afloat during a very difficult period, and emphasized that such synergy needs to be maintained to overcome the highly challenging months ahead for a sustainable recovery.

Last year the Tourism Ministry, working with the MHRA and other stakeholders launched the ‘STAR JOURNEY’ initiative with the goal of placing Malta and Gozo as an In-Partnership with Forbes Travel Guide Destination.

Forbes Travel Guide Destination spearheads various initiatives focusing on service excellence and safety.

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo announced that over 50% of hotels across Malta and Gozo have over the past five months been recognised as Sharecare Verified by Forbes Travel Guide properties. This means that destinations in Malta will be recognized by Forbes Travel Guide as being fully committed to the health and safety of guests and employees and accordingly. This will allow the Malta Tourism Authority to use the digital Health Security ‘VERIFIED’ logo. This will be the first time in the world the logo is used and should serve to assist the continued efforts on the road to recovery.