The Gozo Tourism Association is today reporting the results of an online survey conducted among the Gozitan tourism sector.

The Association said that during the past fortnight, it had conducted an online survey among its members focusing on the performance of the Gozitan tourism establishments during 2021, the festive season, as well as on issues related to human resources.

The survey confirmed the obvious effect on the business generated by the Gozitan tourism establishments during the past year, showing encouraging signs that 2021 ended up better than 2020, the Association said.

68% of the establishments reported more business on previous year, with 24% stating that their performance was equal to that of 2020, while 8% reported less business than year 2020.

This improvement was corroborated further when 61% of respondents declared that the performance of the foreign market on their business was better than that of 2020, with 27% stating that the performance of this market was equal to that of 2020.

The respondents of this survey were also requested to gauge the effects of the domestic market on their establishment’s performance. The GTA noted that more than half of participants, 55% declared that the domestic market in 2021 faired better than 2020, while 29% stated that during the past year, their domestic clientele was on the same levels of 2020. On the other hand, 16% reported less business from the domestic market when compared to 2020.

The tourism operators were also asked about the revenue generated during the festive season of 2021. Only 24% stating that this period was better than 2020, while 40% declared that it was on the same levels of the past year and 36% reported that it was less the year 2020.

When asked about their business constraints, the GTA said that 57% of respondents blamed covid-19 uncertainty as their main obstacle, with 20% stating insufficient demand, while the rest mentioned staff shortage, and operating costs.

Furthermore 42% of respondents declared that their operating constraints remained unchanged, while 30% stated that these deteriorated with the remaining 27% reporting that they have seen improvements on 2020.

The GTA said that, finally, from this survey it transpired that 37% of respondents confirmed that they are having difficulties to obtain the necessary permits to employ foreign employees. Furthermore, the majority of these respondents, 54% are employing 1-2 foreign employees, while 20% are employing 8 and over foreign employees, with the remainder 26% declaring 3 to 5 employees.

The categories that filled in the survey were coming from the Accommodation sectors, Restaurants, Diving Centres, Tourist Attractions, Transport, Tour operators, DMCs, Travel Agencies, Real Estate and Tourism Consultancy firms.

File photo by Alain Salvary

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