GozoNews.Com

The British Broadcasting Corporation has published a report this week featuring the effects of the low-cost airlines on tourism in Gozo and Malta.

The BBC said “The low-cost airlines have started flying to Malta over the past year, and the Maltese are hoping the move will help to invigorate the island’s sluggish tourist industry.”

Tourism Minister Francis Dimech was quoted as saying, “There has been a loss of more than 45,000 tourists from our main core market, the British, this year.”

The BBC said that Mr Dimech believed that the new airlines would attract tourists from other parts of Europe and forecasts that the budget carriers will bring in more than 100,000 passengers this year.

The BBC went on to say that the cheaper flights are attracting different types of tourists from the ones that the island is used to. Travellers can now afford to come for short weekend breaks and those on a limited budget have the opportunity to sample the island.

Hannah O’Reilly, an Australian backpacker, was quoted as saying that she booked a ticket to fly to Malta because it was so cheap, “I didn’t actually know where Malta was until I saw it was only one penny to get there, so I looked it up on the internet and booked it.”

The BBC then turned specifically to Gozo, saying that the people living on the more tranquil sister island of Gozo also want to benefit from the low-cost carriers flying into Malta.

Joe Muscat, from Gozo’s Tourism Association, was quoted as saying, “These new cheap airlines are a double-edged sword for Gozo and that the island is losing its share of the domestic market.

“The Maltese that usually would have crossed over to Gozo for their weekend breaks now have another opportunity to go to more exciting European destinations at a cheaper rate”.

The article then mentioned agro-tourism in Gozo, highlighting the fact that some local people in Gozo have joined together to make sure the island continues to be a unique destination to travel to by promoting the fact that it also specialises in agro and eco- tourism.

One such person was Zeppi Ta’Kurun, a Gozitan farmer who has joined up with the Ager Foundation, an organisation that invites tourists to spend the day with local farmers, learning the traditional ways of making cheese and milking and shearing sheep.

Mr Ta’Kurun was quoted as saying, “When the tourists are here, they like everything, because they see I milk with my hands not with the machine. They try to milk the sheep, they try to cut the grass for the sheep.”

The report then turned to development concerns in Gozo, saying that Gozitans are also trying to attract tourists by improving the island’s infrastructure, and that there is a heated debate on the island over whether to build upmarket hotels and villas, a golf course and a heliport extension for private planes.

It concluded by pointing out that these possible developments are a great worry to many locals, such as the island’s Green party member, John Mizzi, who was quoted as saying that he is against the proposed expansion of Gozo’s tiny airport because of the possible noise and air pollution it may bring.

“Because Gozo is so small, when you have planes landing the whole island will roar, we have to keep Gozo as quiet and clean as possible,” Mr Mizzi concluded.