A delegation made up of senior officials of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Malta Business Bureau and other local firms, visited Brussels on a two day programme that focused on EU tourism policy and funding related issues.

The delegation, which was led by MHRA President Tony Zahra, had the opportunity to visit the European Commission and Parliament, whereby it was given a presentation on the role of these two important institutions in the EU’s legislative process.

Mr Zahra thanked the Malta Business Bureau and the Mediterranean Hotels and Restaurants Academy for coordinating this visit and commented, “This experience allowed the MHRA to better understand the functions of the European institutions. It is our aim to bring Maltese tourism operators closer to the EU. Many decisions are taken in Brussels and for this reason we need to be efficient in communicating timely feedback as new regulations and policy development have an impact on our industry.”

The group was also hosted by MEP Joseph Cuschieri in a meeting that discussed various topics falling under the remit of the Tourism and Transport Committee (TRAN). Issues that were discussed included the European Parliament’s initiative on the setting up of a Tourism Task Force, the challenges derived as a result of the fragmentation in the EU tourism policy development process and the promotion of accessibility of peripheral tourism destinations like Malta.

The delegation visited the European Commission whereby it was welcomed by EU Commissioner for Public Health Tonio Borg and conducted an exchange of views on issues driven by DG Sanco, of which he is responsible for. In a separate meeting with the Enforcement Unit at DG Sanco, a discussion on specific topics took place, particularly on the proposed food inspection regulation and the implementation of the food labeling directive.

At the European Commission, further meetings were held with Giancarlo Granero, who is Deputy Head of Unit for Enterprise Policy and Support Programmes at DG Enterprise, on EU funding opportunities for SMEs through the ‘Competitiveness for SMEs’ (COSME) Programme. Also, the group held a meeting with Eric Philippart, Acting Head of Unit, and Antonella Correra, Policy Officer, at the Tourism and Cultural Instruments Unit at DG Enterprise.

Two important workshops were held at the European Association for Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes (HOTREC) led by CEO Anna Torres; and at the Maltese Permanent Representation to the EU, led by Ambassador Marlene Bonnici.

These workshops focused on the ongoing development of tourism policy issues such as copyright management and the revision of the Package Travel Directive.

Finally, the group explored means to start collaborating with a number of Brussels-based associations active in the tourism field. In this respect a number of meetings were held with Medin Europe Director Francesco Vallebona, Lecturer Marita de Neve from a Brussels-based tourism institute and Cristina Núñez from NECSTouR – the Network of European Regions for a Sustainable and Competitive Tourism.

These meetings were held at the MBB Brussels office, the La Vallette Business Centre.

Following the visit Mr Zahra noted, “There are many opportunities for EU funding lined up for the 2014-2020 programming period. Coming from a country whereby tourism contributes over 30% of our GDP, it was disappointing to learn that tourism has not been named as an overall thematic objective for the EU. Nevertheless, given the SME status of most of our operators, there are other opportunities which we expect to benefit from, for instance through the COSME programme.”

“We look forward to work pursue further initiatives between the Mediterranean Hotels and Restaurants Academy, the Malta Business Bureau and other stakeholders to develop project proposals in order to benefit from EU direct funding that would benefit our industry and the Maltese economy,” concluded Mr Zahra.

The delegation’s visit was partly supported by the European Parliament.

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