Victor J Borg, the Gozitan hotelier, passed away this morning, aged 75. The Gozo Tourism Association said that, “the Gozitan tourism community is in mourning for the loss of one of the leading Gozitan hoteliers and entrepreneurs on Gozo.”

Borg was Honorary President of the Gozo Tourism Association, and it said that in the late 1960’s Victor J Borg had the “foresight, vision and belief that Gozo can be a tourist destination.”

From a modest beginning of a car hire business, the GTA said that, “Victor with sheer courage, ventured into the hotels sector, when in 1970 he was already involved in the Cornucopia Hotel in Xaghra.”

Victor Borg was a firm believer in Gozo as a distinct destination, the GTA said, and in the 1990s continued investing in the hotels sector through the building of the St. Patricks Hotel and the purchase of Ta’ Cenc Hotel.

These hotels together other investments in the tourism industry on Gozo created countless job opportunities to all Gozitans.

The Gozo Tourism Association went on to say that today hundreds of Gozitans in their silence are grateful for Mr. Victor J Borg for offering them work and career opportunities in his several touristic businesses.

“The contribution of this stalwart in the Gozitan tourism industry will never be forgotten by all of those who have tourism on Gozo at heart,” the GTA said.

The Gozo Tourism Association concluded by saying that on “behalf of the Gozitan touristic sector extends its condolences to Mr. Victor J Borg’s wife and his children. May he rest in eternal peace and rise in glory.”

The Nationalist Party also paid tribute to the memory of Victor J. Borg, saying that he was “a leading exponent of the tourism sector in Gozo.”

“Victor J. Borg was an entrepreneur and pioneer in the hospitality sector in Gozo with the establishment and management of several major hotels,” the PN said.

The Nationalist Party offered its condolences to the Borg family.

The Labour Party in a salute to the memory of  Victor J. Borg,  described him as a pioneer in the tourism sector in Gozo,.

In a statement, the PL said that his zeal to improve this sector on the island of Gozo “served as a guarantee for the employment of hundreds of Gozitan workers in the last fifty years.”

The Labour Party offered its condolences to the Borg family

Photo top DOI: Borg was appointed a member of the National Order of Merit in 2012. In 2014 the Gozo Tourism Association council awarded the Lifetime Tourism Achievement Award to Mr Victor J Borg for his investment and achievements in the tourism sector during a span of 45 years, which contributed towards job creation and economic growth on Gozo.

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