The Minister for Tourism and Consumer Protection Clayton Bartolo has launched the recovery plan for tourism which will take place in the coming weeks and months and will prepare for the gradual opening of the tourism sector from the beginning of next June.
The tourism recovery plan for local industry involves a cost of around € 20,000,000 in direct aid and commitment to local businesses and tourism sectors.
In the coming weeks and months, schemes will be issued by the Malta Tourism Authority dedicated to travel operators, English language schools, the Conference sector (MICE) as well as events and festivals sector. In addition, there will be initiatives addressing Quality Assured Visitor Attractions, individual tourists, long-stay tourists, sports tourism as well as diving tourism.
During a news conference, the Minister for Tourism and Consumer Protection Clayton Bartolo said that the ultimate goal of this plan is that in the shortest time local tourism will embark on a recovery path so that our country can generate the necessary number of tourists who will be able to support the investment made by the local sector.
“Malta will be gradually welcoming tourists back to our country from the beginning of next June. This period has been agreed with the Public Health Authorities together with all tourism sector stakeholders,” continued Minister Clayton Bartolo.
The Minister stressed that the first markets that our country will be opening for will be the European ones and also that of the United Kingdom because these same countries are expected to have satisfactory vaccination rates by the beginning of June.
“For next summer in terms of air connectivity, Malta International Airport will be on the map of 18 different airlines with 4 of them being in operation for the first time in our country. These numbers are equivalent to 70% of the airlines that were operating to Malta back in 2019,” remarked Minister Clayton Bartolo.
The Minister also mentioned that for the summer months the Valletta Cruise Port has announced that Malta will be forming part of 34 different routes from the cruiseliners that will be arriving inside the Grand Harbor.
“I firmly believe that we have set out on the right path that lies ahead. However, I call on the public to remain focused, prudent and above all responsible. The road to normalcy remains a challenging one and therefore the success of this plan will depend on the behaviour of each and every one of us. Together, we must pull on one rope so that tomorrow we can look back and say that we have all done our part to make our country stronger than before the pandemic had started,” concluded Minister Clayton Bartolo.