The Gozo Tourism Association (GTA) held its 12th Annual General Meeting last month, at the Citadel Cinema in Victoria.

The Agenda of the Annual General meeting included an address by the Chairman of the Association, Mr Paul Scicluna, the reading of the Administrative report by the Secretary , Mr Joe Muscat, the Financial report by the Treasurer , Mr Mark Busuttil as well as a short presentation by Banif Bank who are the official sponsor of the GTA. Dr Gavin Gulia, LP Spokesman for Tourism and Dr Mario DeMarco, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, the Culture & Environment addressed the AGM followed by a closing speech by the Minister for Gozo, Giovanna Debono.

In his opening address the Chairman, Paul Scicluna said that the first months of the year 2010 were very negative but then from May onwards things started changing postively. Mr Scicluna stressed on the fact that the authorities concerned need to address the particular challenges faced by the Gozitan tourism sector particularly in strenghtening tourism niches and specialised niches that can attract more tourists in the lean months as well as opening horizons to other markets . In his speech Mr Scicluna mentioned the permanent link which has been proposed recently and said that the GTA held a survey within its members which survey resulted that the majority of the members agree with the permanent link, and that the Gozo Tourism Association will be infavour of a complex study regarding this project and its impact on the Island of Gozo. However he said that accessibility will still be on top of the agenda of the Gozo Tourism Associaiton which association will still be harping on the Fixed Wing Air link.

The Association Secretary, Mr Joe Muscat said that the year 2010 was a challenging year for various reasons. He said that according to NSO statistics duirng 2010 the number of foreign tourists who stayed in Gozo was 699 more arrivals than 2009 which is a 2% increase over the previous year while domestic tourism compared with 2009 showed an increase of 5454 more arrivals or 18% increase. Therefore Gozo had an overall increase of 6% over 2009 but when compared with the increases in Malta it results that there is still lot to be done in promoting the island of Gozo as a distinct destination. During his speech Mr Muscat gave an overview of the work undertaken by the association during this past year.

Labour Party Spokesman for Tourism Dr Gavin Gulia said that this is his first official speech in his new post. While acknowlodging the fact that a lot has been done by the present administration in oder to enjoy the increases registered during 2010, however Dr Gulia insisted that the results for Gozo lacks much to be desired. He also stated that the slight increases registered in Gozo coupled with increases in water & electricity and fuel costs as well as other increases in operating costs are not helping towards a sustainable and profitable situation in the Gozitan tourism sector.

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, the Culture & Environment, Dr Mario Demarco said that Gozo has an important role in tourism, like tourism has an important role in Gozo’s economy. Dr Demarco said that the allocation of beds in the self catering sector in Gozo is that of 63% of the total beds in Gozo while that of Malta is that of 8% of the total beds in Malta. He added that during 2010 the MTA did an exercise in which it identified 200 accomodation establishments operating in Gozo without being licenced. He said that regulations are being imposed on these particular establishments to make sure that these offer high strandard quality and services and will be accoding to law. He also mentioned accessibility and promotion with regards Gozo and said that improvement in accessibility should be accompanied with effective promotion in the existing and new markets. The Parliamentary Secretary said that promotion includes advertising, public relations, participation in fairs abroad, trade education and cross branding. He also urged the Gozitan stakeholders to participate in fairs abroad as well as to make use of the modern technologies for more effective marketing.

The Minister for Gozo praised the commitment of the various councils which had worked with the Gozo Tourism Association (GTA) since its inception. She added that the work between the Ministry and the GTA had resulted in enhancement of the tourism product of Gozo and that of various projects around the island. The Minister added that all this has been reinforced by initiatives taken in recent months including the establishment of the Directorate for Tourism and Economic Development within the Gozo Ministry and the allocation of €500,000 for the promotion of Gozo. One must bear in mind that the afore mentioned initiatives taken recently were both proposals of the Gozo Tourism Association. Minister Debono, said that the Ministry would continue to enhance the operation of the GTA through financial allocation so that GTA employs a full time CEO which she believes will be effective to enhance collaboration between the Ministry for Gozo and the Gozitan tourism industry, in order to achieve more positive results in the very near future.

The GTA council 2011 is formed up of the following members Borg Monica, Busuttil Mark, Cassar Anthony, Gatt Ludgard, Loporto Mario, Muscat Joe, Rapa Joe, Scicluna Paul, Spiteri Philip, Veranneman Amand, Zammit Amabile and Zammit Jamie.

Permalink: GTA Annual General Meeting held last month in Victoria