The Malta Hotel and Restaurants Association (MHRA) has said in a statement today that it is confident that this year the tourism sector will maintain the growth trend achieved over the past years and forecasts that 2015 will be yet another record year on various fronts of the equation.

Significantly this year a spread into the shoulder and winter months of tourism flows is being experienced as a result of efforts to address the seasonality challenge, the Association said.

Tony Zahra, MHRA President stated that, “following the success in developing a successful core season for the tourism sector, MHRA is pleased to note that efforts to address the seasonality factor are also reaping positive results.”

MHRA said that it has “consistently advocated for the importance of organising events throughout the whole year to enhance the experience of the visitor to our islands and also to develop new markets, hence creating a more versatile type of tourist.”

Referring to the festival hosted by DJ Annie Mac in Malta last weekend, the MHRA said that it “clearly demonstrated that such events generate a positive boost to the tourism sector specifically in the entertainment, hospitality and catering segment during the quite shoulder months. The economic boost generated as a result was also felt by other business.”

“This was achieved thanks to working collaboration between the private sector stakeholders with the support of the MTA, Ministry and other parties.” it said.

The MHRA concluded that it “therefore calls upon the authorities to pursue the strategy to further incentivise the organisation of similar entertainment events and others related to sport and culture spread throughout the year while improving on the management of overall logistics to ensure better security, less disruption in the neighbourhood of such events and a quality approach to ensure sustainable tourism growth across our islands.”

Photograph: Alain Salvary

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