Hospitality fair aims to bring businesses together

The first Hospitality and Leisure Trade Fair is to be held next month, intended to serve as a platform for discussion and networking among people within the industry to look at effective ways of running their business.

Being held at the Trade Fair Grounds in Naxxar between November 7 and 9, the fair targets people in the hotel and restaurant trade, bringing together key suppliers and buyers.

About 50 stands will be set up. The organisers, Crest Limited and Zaffarese Exhibitions & Events Limited, hope the fair will be organised every two years.

"Hospitality is of great importance to Malta and our product needs to be able to deliver quality and reliability," said Victor Calleja, Crest managing director.

"The fair is a first in producing a hospitality industry business-to-business trade event across a diverse range of industries that bring buyer and seller face to face."

Justin Zammit Tabona, Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president welcomed this initiative saying such fairs exposed a facet of the industry that was often taken for granted, yet was crucial for the delivery of the product.

He stressed the basic steps every individual had to take to welcome tourists and enhance their stay and their experience of the island's culture.

"We're getting it wrong in the very simple things. The way we greet tourists, the cleanliness of the island, air quality and similar factors are all part of a complete package.

"We have to improve our tourist attractions by providing well-maintained walking paths and cycle lanes to improve our product in the shoulder months," he said. Asked if the MHRA was predicting a bleak winter season, Mr Zammit Tabona would only comment: "My only forecast is that overall the situation will continue along the same lines as last year, which was not so good".

Mr Zammit Tabona once again placed a heavy accent on the importance of education and he said that within the next few weeks the MHRA, together with a number of companies, will be launching a campaign in schools.

The idea is to set up posters in schools underlining the island's rich heritage and unique selling products to encourage students to take ownership.

The MHRA has also been lobbying, and will continue to do so, to have tourism introduced in school curricula.

"There is an urgent need for a programme of education for the public on the importance of tourism to our national well-being, and that we all understand that we are stakeholders in this industry. Misbehaviour earns us all a minus point and minus points tend to stick in people's minds longer than the pluses," he said.

The fair will display catering equipment, furniture, furnishings, tableware, as well as management and technology solutions. It will include seminars, workshops, stands and presentations from a wide variety of industry sources.

It will be open between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 3 and 8 p.m.