Tourism strategy consultation launch welcomed by Malta’s tourism agents

The association of tourism agents has welcomed the launch of Malta’s 2021-2030 tourism strategy consultation, announced on Monday by Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, saying it is “very much in line” with the group’s vision.

In a statement released Monday evening, the Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (FATTA) said it broadly endorses and supports the proposed approach for Maltese tourism for the coming decade, agreeing with the “Recovering, Rethinking and Revitalising [of] this important economic pillar”.

“The focus on providing visitors with authentic, quality experience across the value chain is very much in line with FATTA’s vision, as are the focus on promoting what is indigenous to Malta and Gozo and the quest for a stronger integration of sustainable development goals,” commented FATTA President Iain Tonna.

He added that the Association fully concurs that the initial recovery effort is critical and stressed that the launch of any measures intended to stimulate such recovery must take into consideration the lead times required for the specific niche markets to yield the results.

Speaking to BusinessNow.mt, Mr Tonna explained that every sector has a timeframe for when marketing or incentives are expected to yield results. “For example, for the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) industry, we normally have a lead time of a year to 18 months.”

This means that if stimulation measures are introduced in June 2021, they can expect to yield results between June and December of 2022, although Mr Tonna stressed that some niches have a shorter lead time while for some niches it is even longer.

“Given that we need to recover with a healthy mix of business, it is imperative that measures are launched now so the recovery can begin as soon as the global environment permits,” he said.

Meanwhile, FATTA stated that it “looks forward to participating actively in the stakeholder consultation process to support direction that will rebuild a resilient and successful tourism industry based on stronger foundations.”