Month: July 2012

In former times Cais do Sodré was the place of arrival and departure for sailors from all over the world who filled the streets, but now it is now one of the Portuguese capital’s trendiest districts, offering both variety and quality.  There are the popular nightclubs Jamaica, Europa and Tóquio, the revamped Roterdão, the more recent Music Box and the new projects accommodated in Pensão Amor.

In this traffic-free area there are several outdoor terraces as well as innovative concepts such as a restaurant (Sol e Pesca) devoted to Portuguese conserves as well as the bars Povo and Velha Senhora. Inspired by Lisboa’s typical tascas (cheap taverns), Povo belongs to the same owners as Music Box and was created as a complement to it. This no-frills space serves traditional snacks like salada de polvo (octopus salad), peixinhos da horta (deep-fried green beans in batter) and ovos verdes (fried devilled eggs) to the sound of Fado, with live music, resident artists and a special preference for the new generation of Fado performers.

Bar da Velha Senhora sought its inspiration in the Cais do Sodré of the old days in order to present a contemporary, uninhibited cabaret. This venue hosts a variety of shows and the menu is typically Portuguese.

Pensão Amor is notable for its trendy burlesque decor, where no chair or sofa is the same but all are upholstered in glossy velvet. The walls are covered with red materials and hung with photographs and the ceilings are painted with replicas of frescoes. A new lease of life is being given to this district of Lisbon and transforming its reputation from that of a rundown area to a popular modern nightspot area which offers memories of the old days.

Arrivals in hotels and other collective accommodation facilities in April stood at 121,042, up by 3.0 per cent when compared to last year, the NSO said today.

 
Total guest nights edged down by 0.3 per cent to 632,813. Declines were registered in both the 5-and 4-star hotel categories, while 3-star hotels increased by 7.4 per cent.

The average length of stay was calculated at 5.2 nights, down by 0.2 of a night when compared to 2011. The 4-star and 2-star hotel categories registered declines in the number of arrivals of 1.5 and 9.3 per cent respectively, while arrivals in 5-star hotels increased by 6.9 per cent.

When compared to the previous year, the net use of bed-places went up by 1.8 percentage points to 57.5 per cent. The occupancy rate in hotels stood at 60.4 per cent, whereas that calculated for other collective accommodation establishments reached 41.0 per cent.

Declines of 1.0 and 1.3 percentage points were recorded in the occupancy levels of 5- and 4-star hotels respectively, whereas occupancy rates for 3-star hotels increased by 5.8 percentage points to 44.4 per cent.

Regional breakdown

Total arrivals in Malta amounted to 114,805 – 3.3 per cent more than last year. Total nights numbered 613,278, with an average length of stay of 5.3 nights. There was a decrease of 1.9 per cent in arrivals in 4-star hotels, which numbered 53,789 during the month under review.

In contrast, all other hotel categories in Malta registered increases. The occupancy rate was calculated at 58.4 per cent, or 2.0 per cent higher than in 2011.

When compared to the previous year, total arrivals and nights in Gozo and Comino declined to 6,237 and 19,535 respectively.

Despite these drops, the average length of stay remained unchanged at 3.1 nights. The net use of bed-places in Gozo and Comino was estimated at 38.3
per cent, 1.2 percentage points less than last year.

Tourist arrivals in May were up 2.5% over May last year, maintaining the upward trend of the previous two months after a dip in the first months of the year.

The figures for May show a drop in arrivals from the UK which was outweighed by sharp increases in arrivals from Germany and Italy.

The NSO said tourist arrivals in May  reached 133,659.

Total nights spent by tourists rose by 12.1 per cent, bringing the average length of stay to 7.5 nights.

Holidaymakers comprised the absolute majority of inbound tourists, and registered an increase of 7 per cent. However, a notable decrease was observed among those travelling for business purposes, the NSO said.

In line with previous months, 87 per cent of inbound tourists came from EU Member States and in particular from the euro area.

Tourists from outside the EU increased over last year, reaching 17,936.
The main market for inbound tourists remained the UK, with a share equivalent to 30 per cent of the total. Second was the Italian market, with a share of 12 per cent.

The British market registered a decrease of four per cent, while Germany and Italy experienced increases of 14 and 19 per cent, respectively.

During May, inbound tourists spent a total of over one million nights in Malta, up by 12 per cent when compared to 2011. In absolute terms, the majority of guest nights were spent in collective accommodation establishments and in particular in hotel accommodation. Nonetheless, a substantial increase of 30 per cent in the use of private accommodation was recorded.

Frankfurt/Main, May 31st 2012 – This year IMEX visitors could once again sample the Maltese Islands’ varied conference and incentive travel offer. Together with 23 Maltese co-exhibitors, the Malta Tourism Authority successfully presented the MICE destination Malta within the framework of IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany, from 22nd to 24th May.

IMEX is an annual award-winning trade show for the worldwide meetings, incentive travel and events industry and celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. Around 4,000 high quality hosted buyers attended this year’s edition from an overall total of nearly 9,000 visitors from around the world.

Malta’s Ambassador to Germany, H.E. Karl Xuereb, as well as the Malta Tourism Authority’s CEO Josef Formosa Gauci also attended the Malta IMEX stand.

Renowned Maltese chef Claude Camilleri attracted numerous visitors to the Malta stand by preparing typical Maltese delicacies during daily show-cooking sessions. Furthermore, the Malta Tourism Authority held a Maltese drinks reception at the Malta stand on the occasion of IMEX’ 10th anniversary and Malta’s 10 years presence as an IMEX exhibitor. Moreover, the Malta Tourism Authority again sponsored the public IMEX Café which was branded “the Maltese way” with photos of Malta’s stunning event locations and thus drew particular attention to Malta as a conference and incentive destination.

The relationship Sheffield United and the Malta Tourism Authority embarked upon in 2008, has continued to evolve and reach beyond the sponsorship it first started out as.  In fact for the past years the team has returned to Malta for its annual summer training camp.  This year will see the team on our shores between the 20th and 27th of July and the ‘Blades’ Manager Danny Wilson says the management team and squad are all looking forward to putting the players through their paces when the team tours Malta.

United will make their annual trip to the Mediterranean Island on Friday 20 July and will play friendly fixtures against BOV Premier League opposition, to be confirmed during the week-long stay at the Fortina Spa Resort.  Other than that the team will also take part in a community program on the islands, as has been done on every United visit.

The Blades boss believes the training camp is vital preparation for United and although the training becomes very challenging in a hotter climate than the players are used to in rainy Sheffield, Wilson sees the bigger picture of the Club’s relationship with the Island:

“It is tougher for the players because of relatively high temperatures throughout the day. I have never done a pre-season in such a different climate to Sheffield, but the players responded brilliantly last year and it is part of the Club, given the excellent relation with the island of Malta.

“It is a trip we all look forward to, even though the training tends to require more energy, in the end the benefits of the sunshine are felt all round and we’re also looking forward to meeting up with the many Sheffield United fans who are also making the trip. Everyone who joined us last year enjoyed the experience and there is no reason why it cannot be the same this time.”

United will play fixtures on the evenings of Monday 23 July and Wednesday 25 July, whilst there will be social events with travelling and Maltese based United supporters on the evenings of Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th July.

Following reports on the growth in arrivals for May and June 2012, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) once again stressed that hotels should not reduce their rates because summer could promises to have the potential of another record number of arrivals.

“MHRA is working closely with the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), Air Malta, and the Malta International Airport (MIA) and other stake holders so that accessibility for the November 2012 to April 2013 period returns to at least levels achieved in period November 2010 to April 2011 which was one of the best winter period for tourism to Malta,” the MHRA said.

MHRA said it was also working with MTA to enable MHRA members to be more proactive in marketing jointly Malta for niche tourism markets.

“MHRA notes with satisfaction the focus of the various stakeholders including the Ministry of Tourism, MTA, MIA and Air Malta to ensure that tourism grows in spite of the economic turmoil that is being experienced in a good number of our source markets. It is therefore clear that when all the stakeholders combine their efforts together the results are very positive,” MHRA President Tony Zahra said.