Several hotels in Gozo have reported a record increase in bookings compared to last year, with six hotels saying that by Thursday morning they were fully booked.

This was stated this morning when the Minister for Gozo Dr Anton Refalo, visited several Gozo hotel operators in connection with this weekend’s ‘Travel to Gozo Weekend-Valentine Special.’

During the visits, the operators mentioned that employment in the tourism sector in Gozo is normally only in the summer months, but through these initiatives by the Government, they are now managing to keep work going throughout the year.

The operators said that the overwhelming majority of 1732 beds located in Gozo hotels are already filled for February and Dr Refalo pointed out that this is not an isolated case, with a similar iniative undertaken by the Ministry last November resulted in an increase of 49% in hotel bookings compared to the same period the previous year.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Gozo Tourism Association, Joe Muscat, said that these initiatives by the Government help to remind domestic tourists that Gozo is a place to be enjoyed and relax in during the winter months.

Dr Refalo stressed the Government’s commitment to work side by side with the private sector in these scheme to aid the Gozitan economy during the year.

“We are working on policies and initiatives that focus on this island’s unique elements, to encourage the Maltese tourist to view the island as an attractive destination for their holiday. The Gozitan tourism economy is different from Malta because it depends more strongly on domestic tourism,” the Minister said.

Statistics show that for every foreign tourist that visits, there is also a domestic tourist here. This clearly indicates the importance of the this sector for Gozo, the Minister said.

Dr Refalo reiterated his commitment to continue in the coming period to work to give the domestic market in Gozo the boost it deserves.

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