The Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism in the Office of the Prime Minister, Dr Mario de Marco, said that there is no doubting that the current world economic scenario is resulting in new challenges for which we need to seek new solutions. “In this situation, doing nothing is not an option. We all must roll up our sleeves – both government and private sector together – to ensure that we ride this crisis and be prepared for what’s coming next.”

He said this while delivering the opening address at a seminar entitled ‘Applying for the EU Grant Scheme of Sustainable Tourism Projects for Enterprises’ organised by the Tourism and Sustainable Development Unit within OPM. Around 180 people from the private sector and various NGOs attended the seminar.

Dr de Marco referred to the €10 million Grant Scheme, co-financed by the European Union’s structural funds, aimed to help tourism enterprises to carry out sustainable tourism projects, insisting that this Grant Scheme is a tool which, if used intelligently, can boost demand, and strengthen Malta’s competitiveness and sustainability.

He also mentioned the importance of sustainable tourism and insisted that the projects to be submitted must be built on the concepts of economic development, social cohesion and respect for the environment – the so called ‘triple bottom line.’ “This in turn will lead to a strengthening of Malta’s competitiveness and enhance our product. This is what ‘responsible tourism is all about. If we do otherwise, we will end up killing the golden goose. In the words of Fiona Jeffreys of the WTM, We are looking for transparent, year round activity that will conserve what is, after all, the product we seek to promote.”

Dr de Marco encouraged the participants to come up with projects which will strengthen Malta’s competitive advantage and which encourage the use of ICT while adopting good environmental practice.

“We need innovative ideas; projects which can tap the higher end of the travel market and which tap other important and lucrative markets which to date remain untapped; and projects that build on Malta’s characteristics and key products, projects which promote Malta’s unique features,” he added.

The Parliamentary Secretary referred also to the information on the Scheme which is now available online: www.tourismschemes.gov.mt. The information available online includes the Application Form and Guidance Notes on how this can be filled in and submitted, the Tourism Policy, SME definition and EU regulations of relevance to the scheme.

Dr de Marco added that the success of the scheme is also reliant on the seriousness in the way it is run and the checks and balances properly administered for the sake of all applicants. This includes the very important audits which will be carried out.

Dr de Marco concluded by stating that he looks forward to witnessing the positive impact that these funds and the projects will have on the industry.

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