Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party, represented by Chairperson Arnold Cassola and Carmel Cacopardo, Spokesperson on Sustainable Development and Local Government, met with the Committee of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, led by President Kevin Decesare and Deputy President Winston Zahra Jr.

The MHRA pointed out that in the present crisis it was of paramount importance to increase seat capacity on planes travelling to Malta, to have a one off strong publicity campaign abroad to attract tourists to Malta in this period of economic crisis, to improve the maintanance of roads and services in Malta and to ensure that product Malta is not left in a state of abandonment.

The MHRA estimates that it is necessary to immediately inject 8 million euros to maintain the levels necessary to thrive in the tourist industry. Failure to do so could mean a loss of between 64 to 91 million euros in money spent in Malta, calculated on the estimated loss of around 10% tourism this year.

The MHRA officials agreed with Prof Cassola and Arch Cacopardo that houses in the old village and town centres would be ideal for boutique hotels, since they would cater for the needs of the more exigent tourists looking for quiet and quaint places, away from the commercial hubs. Alternattiva Demokratika insisted on the need for Maltese tourism to diversify into niche cultural, walking, eco and agro tourism, with Gozo being able to play a main role in this area.

In conclusion, whilst the MHRA is in principle favour of the new Ghadira road proposed by the government and Alternattiva Demokratika against, both sides agreed that one had to wait for scientific studies before proceeding before any further in-depth discussions.

Permalink: AD and MHRA discuss the economic crisis