Bed shortage may derail tourism targets

Students will be encouraged to vacate precious hotel bed space during the summer months if new proposals take effect, The Sunday Times has learnt.

Record tourism projections for 2008 could be in jeopardy if English language students continue occupying hotel beds rather than stay with host families.

A committee headed by the Malta Tourism Authority - incorporating the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA), the Chamber of Medium and Small Enterprises (GRTU), the Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations (FELTOM), and the Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents - has presented a detailed report to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi about the student sector.

Among other recommendations, the report makes suggestions to facilitate the creation of youth hostels and incentivise families to start hosting foreign students. One of the proposals suggests increasing the limit of foreign students in host families from four to six.

During a news conference last month, Malta International Airport chief executive Julian Jaeger forecast an increase of 6.5 per cent over 2007 figures in tourism arrivals, which would exceed three million passenger movements. Malta Tourism Authority chairman Sam Mifsud is optimistic this target can be met, especially with January registering an increase of 22 per cent in arrivals over last year.

But individuals in the sector pointed out that this figure is unattainable unless more beds are supplied to cater for the anticipated heavy demand during the summer months.

"We're trying to come up with a few ideas to steer students away from hotels," Mr Mifsud told The Sunday Times.

The decrease in contribution from host families has paid off with more families requesting to host students this year. The Government agreed to waive, as from 2007, the €46.5 annual contribution that families paid to the MTA. But language schools had to do even more to promote family accommodation, Mr Mifsud said.

Malta lost hundreds of beds in the three-to-four star hotel category in the past five years amid dwindling tourism figures. Asked if he felt hotel owners had jumped the gun, Mr Mifsud said: "The decisions to shut down hotels was taken a few years ago when tourism wasn't that good. Tourism has changed, figures are up, tour operator clients have changed."

Mr Mifsud said it was in the authority's interest to ensure that certain hotels refrained from taking advantage of the situation. He described as "unacceptable" reports of bunk beds being put in hotel rooms to fit six to eight students.

However, FELTOM's new president Andrew Mangion is shocked at the way the authorities appear to be treating English language students as second-rate tourists.

He said: "I'm concerned with any move which contemplates barring such tourists from hotels. It's a free market. It's true that there has been overcrowding in some hotels, but you can't eliminate the problem in one place and put it somewhere else."

Figures showed that students had boosted tourism over recent years, and their stay in Malta was twice as long as that of the average tourist. Their expenditure was also significant, he pointed out.

"Hotels were under pressure five years ago and the language travel sector was the one to save a number of them. Some hotel owners bailed out, others invested in property. With low-cost carriers, investors need to build more hotels... not flats. Don't push students out," Mr Mangion said.

MHRA president Josef Formosa Gauci said it was up to the hotel management to decide who to host. The MHRA had, however, recommended that tour operators should be informed if more than half the hotel beds were occupied by students.

Ultimately, the recommendations made by the committee should be adopted at once, Mr Formosa Gauci said, though he expressed concern that the impending election could derail the plans.