Limestone Heritage wins Best Visitor Attraction award
The Limestone Heritage if Siggiewi has won the award for the Best Visitor Attraction in the STAR awards scheme. The Hotel Worker of the Year award went to Stuart Psaila from Hilton Malta. The MTA said the winners of the STAR Service Awards for 2009...
The Limestone Heritage if Siggiewi has won the award for the Best Visitor Attraction in the STAR awards scheme.
The Hotel Worker of the Year award went to Stuart Psaila from Hilton Malta.
The MTA said the winners of the STAR Service Awards for 2009 were:
- Charles Abela - Head waiter, The Victoria Hotel;
- Francis Apap - Taxi driver;
- Matthew Balzan - Historical re-enactor, Saluting Battery;
- Edward Caruana - Tourist guide;
- Darren Cutajar - Car park attendant, Golden Bay;
- David Debattista - Horse-drawn cab driver;
- Neal Debono - Restaurant manager, Ix-Xlukkajr Restaurant;
- Paul Farrugia - Bus driver;
- Anthony Fenech - Coach driver, Ventura Coaches, KoptaCo;
- Martin Hall - Diving instructor, Paradise Diving;
- Chandru Mohnani - Shop owner, Novelty Textiles;
- Frederic Pourrut - Travel representative, Voyage Fram;
- Sonia Theuma - Receptionist, Maria Giovanna Hostel; and
- Andrew Whibley - Boatman, A & S Water Taxis.
During the award ceremony, held yesterday, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco emphasised that collaboration between government and all tourism stakeholders was essential in order to ensure quality, competitiveness and continued success of this important sector.
He said that Maltese hospitality is still a strong selling point for tourism and he referred to the fact that over 11,000 STAR nominations were received from tourists during 2009.
Dr de Marco mentioned government efforts to boost the tourism industry, including increased investment in the opening of new routes, increased marketing and advertising, as well as a number of EU-funded projects to enhance the product on offer. He concluded by saying that infrastructure alone was not enough for a successful tourism industry, and thanked all the nominees for their indispensable contribution.
The awards in the STAR Service categories are totally consumer-driven and during 2009 more than 11,000 tourist nominations were received, an increase of almost 50% over the previous year. Hundreds of different individuals working in various sectors related to tourism were nominated. From these, the top three in each of the 14 categories qualified as finalists. The 14 winners each received a certificate, an 18ct gold lapel-pin and €800 cash prize, whereas the remaining finalists received a certificate and a cash prize of €150.
Nominations for the Hotel Worker of the Year 2010 will open later on this year, while the STAR Service Awards for 2010 have already begun.