EDGE Venues

Monaco Tourist and Convention Authority has been on tour in the South of Italy since 20 July. Various events to promote the Principality are on the programme: an exhibition of photographs depicting the Princely Family’s visit to Capri in the early 60s, a major evening event for more than 250 VIPs from the world of economics and politics in the Campania region, and a Press Conference.

A golf tournament has also just taken place at the Carney Park golf course in Naples. This was an opportunity for Guillaume Rose, Director of Tourism and Conventions and His Excellency Mariano Bruno, Consul of Monaco in Naples, to present prizes to the winners and highlight Monaco’s attractions to a large number of golfers, all of whom are business people or senior civil servants and likely to stay in the Principality

The emphasis in Malta’s tourism policy for 2012 to 2016 is on authenticity, both in terms of hotels and product, Tourism Minister Mario de Marco said this afternoon.

He was speaking during the launch of the policy at the Westin in St Julian’s.

The new policy will be building and consolidating upon the previous one but in a different way, he said.

It biggest emphasis will be on sustainable and responsible tourism.

Dr deMarco said that while it was important to promote tourism, one could not have tourism at all costs. Social and environmental aims also had to be met.

Emphasis would be on tourism based on authenticity.

“We cannot expect to be something we are not. For many years we did not pay enough attention to what is truly Maltese,” Dr de Marco said.

He said that the country needed to continue to invest in cultural heritage, history, and village cores. The country’s tourist attractions were not just in Valletta, Rabat and the Cittadella (Gozo) – they were more widespread. There were many villages in Malta which had the characteristics to offer unique and authentic experience.

He said that more importance would be given to the countryside over the next four years, as this had never really been given any consideration. He noted that 13 per cent of Maltese territory was Natura 2000 sites.

There were four marine protected areas which also had to be given value.

Malta had to be more competitive by being innovative in its offer without losing its authenticity. He stressed the importance of Maltese food and noted that although the choice of restaurants had increased, authentic cuisine was not represented enough.

Dr de Marco said he wanted to see more boutique hotels in Palazzi and old houses for a more personalised experience that tourists were looking for.

He said that in terms of seasonality summer had reached its peak and it would be a mistake to try to increase that.

The minister said that the challenges of the next four years are different to those of previous four, when the emphasis had been on growth. This had been achieved with arrivals increasing from 1.1 million in 2006 to 1.4 million last year.

During the same period, night spent in Malta increased by almost a million and there were many other increases which showed a shift in trends in tourist spend.

The minister said that one of the targets of the policy of the past four years had been accessibility and this had been achieved with 45 scheduled routes and up to 81 destinations served. There were also big increases in arrivals from various markets.

He noted that arrival records were achieved in both April and May and the biggest number of passengers to ever use MIA in one month was reached in June.

“What we need now is a stronger competitive edge, higher value added, improved quality and the achievement of excellence in tourism,” Dr de Marco said.

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.