Gozo has started to see some hotel and apartment cancellations over the last few days as the island gears up for a “different” Santa Marija weekend due to the pandemic.

The Gozo Tourism Association (GTA) says more cancellations are expected in the coming days, as countries continue to ‘blacklist’ Malta.

Its CEO, Joe Muscat, said cancellations are also coming in from the domestic market. While still keeping the sister island busy this weekend, the Maltese are “quite conscious” of the situation, he noted.

“It will be a different Santa Marija,” he conceded, pointing to the lack of the usual foreign mix. The domestic market could only mitigate the losses and never compensate for them, he added.

The drop in tourist arrivals, he said, was being felt on beaches and everywhere else, so Gozo will not be packed this Santa Marija.

But it remained popular with the Maltese, especially now that caution about travelling has been re-instilled, following restrictions from a number of countries due to the dramatic rise in novel coronavirus cases.

Drop in tourist arrivals is being felt on beaches and everywhere else

The mood will not be that great, he acknowledged, referring to tourists already here who know they would have to quarantine on return to their country. A few also opted not to take risks and cut short their holiday, pre-empting the travel measures.

The Maltese are still crossing over though, Muscat said.

He hopes they will abide by health protocols at restaurants and hotels, especially in terms of self-distancing, and appealed for “extra caution”.

There will be no party spirit because no parties are being held – no band marches, no horse races... and not even the regular Santa Marija agricultural fair, a permanent fixture at Villa Rundle at this time of year.

The feast itself will be confined to the cathedral in Victoria, with the statute only being taken up to its door today, and not around the streets to the tunes of the band, while people have been instructed not to go to the cathedral square so that mass gatherings will be avoided.

Overall, the mood is one of concern and caution among the Gozitans, who are waiting for the worst, according to Muscat.

Back to square one?

The Gozo Tourism Association is the only tourism entity that has, as yet, spoken out in view of this week’s spate of restrictions on travel from Malta by 11 countries, which has made the situation more difficult for the island.

“The approach at the beginning may have been gradual, but we ran the last part and it was too fast,” CEO Joe Muscat said, insisting that “COVID-19 was definitely not beaten”.

The situation was shaky, had gathered momentum… only to be “shaky” again, he said.

“We always believed the summer would be difficult, but maybe it could have been less difficult,” the CEO said.

“We need foresight not hindsight in these situations… the foresight was that October would be challenging – but the challenges came too soon.”

The Gozo Tourism Association, which represents the most important sector of the Gozo economy, believes the “crux” was the mass events, adding that the decision to stop them was a step in the right direction but “maybe it came too late”.

Ten days into August, with coronavirus cases rising as a result, the first stops in bookings and cancellations were immediately felt, Muscat said.

He believes the medical aspect had to be tackled to bring down the number of cases and get back to the starting point – “not just for tourism, but also for ourselves”.

The country now needs to go back to where it was before to move forward again, he said, adding that “it may take weeks to bring the numbers down, but we will climb again.

“I am glad Gozo’s tourism sector was never greedy and cautiously followed health protocols. The industry understood that it was not only about money but also about health – and everyone should follow suit,” he said.

“We need to move forward with good and careful decisions, even at the expense of certain sectors, maybe.”