The government will next year start regenerating tourist sites including Wied iż-Żurrieq, the St Paul’s Bay area and San Anton Gardens, Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia said in Parliament on Monday.
Speaking during the debate on the Budget 2021 estimates covering her ministry, Farrugia Portelli said the regeneration plans would also be aimed at ensuring synergy between residents and visitors and would not be solely tourism-focused.
The government, she said, had continued improving Malta's tourism offering during the COVID-19 pandemic. It had already invested €10 million in Valletta, another €5 million in Marsaxlokk and a further €15.5 million in regeneration projects in 20 locations, including Vittoriosa and Comino.
Minister highlights €95m budget
Farrugia Portelli said 2021’s allocated budget of €95 million was the biggest yet, increasing by €10 million over 2020’s.
“In 2013 the PN administration had reduced its budget for the tourism sector to €36.5 million… in seven years we increased it by more than 260 per cent as we truly believe in tourism,” she said.
Pandemic impact on tourism sector
The minister said that the first two months of this year were the best two years in terms of tourism figures, when compared to the past 10 years.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic had slashed arrivals in Malta by 80 per cent, similar to what happened abroad. It is estimated that the loss to tourism caused by COVID-19 is eight times bigger than that experienced during the 2009 financial crisis, she noted.
The government had however paved the road to ensure Malta got a running start when things settled down. Among others, 2021 will see the launch of a new ITS campus at Smart City, a project that will take three years to complete.
In November of this year, the minister will also launch a draft of a policy that will ensure the tourism sector remains sustainable in the coming years, she said.
Farrugia Portelli called for unity during such challenging times and said she took taunts from the Opposition in her stride.
"I was sure [the Opposition] will use the word ‘mechanism’ to pull our leg… we take them in our stride, however, while during a pandemic we spoke about mechanisms for the wellbeing of Maltese families, [the Opposition] got rid of its leader," she said.
Malta missed an opportunity - PN
Earlier, PN MP and tourism spokesperson Robert Arrigo said that despite the government’s “safe corridors and mechanisms”, there had been no summer in Malta. Arrigo's reference was to an interview which Farrugia Portelli had with the BBC earlier this year.
Malta, he added, had missed the opportunity to be promoted as a “stay safe island”.
He commended the government’s initiative of inviting tourism workers who are currently idle because of COVID-19 to join COVID-19 contact tracing teams.
However, he said that other initiatives mentioned in the budget, such as the ‘tourist wardens’ idea had been launched three years ago.
Addressing the same parliamentary session, PN MP Robert Cutajar lambasted plans to build a car park at Għadira bay, which he said was costing taxpayers nearly €1 million.
Had the government listened to the Opposition’s proposal of a multi-storey underground parking, the place would be able to accommodate 600, rather than 300 cars, he said.