MTA's 2002 annual report

The Malta Tourism Authority has published its annual report and financial statements for 2002. In his statement, MTA chairman Dr John C. Grech traced the strategic journey of the Authority to date, which saw the MTA embark "upon building a Malta brand which could capture the imagination of the international traveller and which could win the hearts and minds of consumers around the world. Malta is now positioned in the market no longer as a basic sun and sea destination but as a unique experience.

"During the year under review, we continued to work at containing the downward trend arising from having had an uncompetitive product, while substituting this product with a more competitive one. Our efforts in this regard have to be seen within the context of a complex and long-term process of transition," Dr Grech said.

With reference to MTA's general performance, Dr Grech said, "we are starting to make an impact. We are in now in our second Strategic Plan, by means of which we are seeking to consolidate our strategic direction and to maximise efforts to co-ordinate and form alliances with stakeholders. Tourism is a complex network of public and private interests."

To be successful in this competitive and demanding industry, Dr Grech said that "we need to deliver the product we are promising. The visitor must find different things to do in Malta and have fun while here. We need to pursue further our efforts to differentiate and continuously reinvent our product."

Dr Grech referred to the need for the industry to be open to new opportunities presented by new technologies. He noted that "we need to manage well our environment, tackle the waste problem and embellish our surroundings. We need to promote what is Maltese and place it in the context of our Mediterranean heritage, historical role and national profile."

The MTA chairman concluded by calling on the tourism as well as the wider local community to be "proud of our product, enthusiastic about our tourism industry, innovative in our approach, hospitable in our attitude, but most of all, we must, all and without any exception, own this industry!"

In his report, MTA chief executive officer Leslie Vella focused on the organisational development of the Authority. Today, the MTA directorates are up and running, while their roles have begun to dovetail effectively, as envisaged in the relevant legislation.

Giving an example, he said that the MTA Product Planning and Development Directorate nowadays sets the standards and licence conditions for tourism service providers. The issuing or renewal of licences, by the same directorate, to these service providers is linked to the maintenance of these standards and conditions by the latter. The MTA's Enforcement Directorate ensures that these standards and conditions are observed.

Mr Vella also underlined MTA's impressive array of achievements in the three years since it was set up, explaining that out of 49 broad programmes outlined in the MTA's first strategic plan, "39 have been fully implemented or are ongoing, another five were commenced and are in progress, while another five were postponed either due to more pressing priorities or limited resources."

Mr Vella also referred to Government's commitment of an Lm8.5 million subvention for the period 2001-2004 as one of the factors that enabled the Authority to deliver, along with the MTA's human resource capabilities and the strategic planning process that drives the Authority.

A copy of the annual report was recently presented by Dr Grech to former Tourism Minister Dr Michael Refalo in the presence of the current Tourism Minister Dr Francis Zammit Dimech.