The Federated Association of Travel & Tourism Agents recently held its Annual General Meeting. In his address to the meeting, Iain Tonna, the Association’s President, expressed the Association’s concerns ahead of what is expected to be a difficult year in the travel and tourism industry. He said that the current global economic crisis will have an impact on tourism to Malta and this is bound to cascade negatively onto the local economy and consequently onto the local financial markets.

Whilst acknowledging that Government had shown commitment to the industry by increasing the budget allocation to both marketing and product development, Mr Tonna called for continuous evaluation of how these limited funds are spent to ensure these are directed at initiatives that are likely to yield the best medium to long term results. He said “in these circumstances it is crucial to maintain focus on the bigger picture and long term objectives and not succumb to the temptation to go solely for short term results that may often give a false sense of success.”

He stressed that Malta needs to focus on a balanced mix in tourism and that tour operator business must continue to be an important part of this mix and reiterated that FATTA continues to advocate a prudent approach in the funding of new air routes. These initiatives carry an extremely high cost and should therefore be carefully planned and directed at routes that can become sustainable through growth. He highlighted that some new routes were abandoned completely after less than two years whilst others continue to operate with reduced frequency, in spite of operators’ contractual obligations to maintain such routes and frequencies for longer. “There is no point in investing heavily in routes that are not sustainable for at least medium term.”

Mr Tonna also said that the Government should ensure that the Office of Fair Competition is given the necessary resources to function effectively to provide the very remedies for which it was set up. It was unacceptable that complaints filed by the Association are still unresolved several years after being referred. He also called for the authorities to use the apply the same criteria on government controlled entities as they do on the private sector when enforcing EU regulations, particularly related to fair trading and advertising standards.

The Association’s Council for 2009 is made up of Iain Tonna (President), Ray Azzopardi (Vice-President), George Arrigo (Honorary Secretary), Sandra La Rosa (Honorary Treasurer), Joseph Azzopardi, Joseph A. Bugeja, Robin Oakes, Paul Selis, Tony Spiteri Gonzi and Tony Rossi (Members).

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