MTA to be restructured by end of summer

The Malta Tourism Authority yesterday defended itself against criticism levelled against it by Labour Leader Alfred Sant, saying an exercise designed to make it more efficient, effective and accountable was proceeding as planned and was expected to be completed by the end of September.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Dr Sant claimed there were huge problems at the authority, which had cost the country Lm42.5 million since it was set up in 1999. The MTA, he charged, had developed in an uncoordinated, confused and very costly manner.

Giving details of its restructuring exercise, which is based on the recommendations of a Deloitte report published last October, the MTA said that last January the number of boards had been reduced from five to one decision-making body.

The management structure had been streamlined and a core management team composed of the three directors, the financial controller and the executive chairman now met daily to set and monitor the achievement of goals.

Work was also in hand to restructure its overseas sales network and the way it operated. In line with its commitment to segment-driven marketing as against working on the lines of geographically defined markets, the MTA's Valletta head office will house a team of segment specialists, who will be sourcing business for Malta overseas in their respective segments. The final objective was to have a cost-effective authority that reflected the needs of a dynamic industry, the MTA said.

The branding of the Maltese islands was also high on its agenda and went hand in hand with the authority's new approach towards marketing the destination.

Meanwhile, the MTA was continuously monitoring the situation in its source markets, which had increasingly been characterised by a late-booking scenario. The executive chairman of the authority, Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud, recently led a sales blitz in the UK, during which the MTA met all of the country's leading tour operators individually.

In Sicily, a joint advertising campaign with three major partners, Air Malta, Virtú Ferries and the Dragonara Casino, had been launched. The campaign would be carried in the Sicilian print media, billboards and TV until September.

In the Benelux markets, the MTA had been placing adverts aimed at obtaining last-minute sales. Billboard campaigns were being carried in France and Russia, while in Spain the MTA would be supporting the marketing efforts of a major tour operator.

The MTA said it had also been running a very extensive PR programme, with 800 journalists having been hosted by the authority on press trips to date this year.

With regard to product issues, the MTA said it had identified tourism priority areas and had indicated areas which were in need of attention. This process had been carried out within the framework of the inter-ministerial committee for tourism headed by the Prime Minister.

The MTA reiterated its commitment to the restructuring of its local and overseas operations, as well as to its role as a catalyst for the improvement of the tourism product in line with its stated mission.