The Image & Sustainability of Island Tourist Destinations – Gozo conference

by Gozo News · May 25, 2015

The Gozo Tourism Association and the Malta Tourism Authority, in collaboration with the Ministry for Tourism, organised the first International Tourism Conference on Gozo entitled, ‘The Image and Sustainability of Island Tourist Destinations.’

This conference, which was held at the Grand Hotel, was part of an EU co-financed project under the Rural Development programme, for Malta 2007-2013.

This Conference was opened by the Minister for Gozo, Dr. Anton Refalo, after an introduction by Mr. Joe Muscat, CEO of the Gozo Tourism Association. Followed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Tourism Authority Mr. Paul Bugeja, who delivered the keynote speech.

During this conference several foreign guest speakers tackled various subjects in relation to tourism on island destinations. Mr. Juan Gaul de Torella, outgoing President of the Majorca Chamber of Commerce gave his island’s experiences on tourism growth and development, while the Polish Strategy and Change consultant Mr. Pawel Tyka delivered a presentation on change. Mr. Mammed Bagher, Senior Teaching Fellow at the Napier University in Edinburgh Scotland then treated leadership in tourist destinations.

The afternoon session was opened by the Minister for Tourism Dr. Edward Zammit Lewis, who was followed by Italian Journalist and Blogger, Ms. Federica Brunini, with a presentation on marketing tourist destinations through blogging.

Sustainability touristic future on Islands was treated by Dr. Rita Cannas from the University of Cagliari.

The last guest foreign speaker was Mr. Justin Reid from Trip Advisor-Head Destination Management Organisations for Europe, Middle East and Afica, who gave an overview of Gozo’s performance on Trip Advisor.

The Conference was brought to an end by the concluding remarks of Mr. Paul Scicluna, Chairman of the Gozo Tourism Association.

This conference was attended by Gozitan tourism operators, officials from the Ministry for Tourism, the Ministry for Gozo and the Malta Tourism Authority, as well as other officials from several financial institutions on Gozo and other guests.