The Gozo Tourism Association is urging the government to remove all fiscal incentives on the sale of buildings and land for development into apartments.
It is however urging the retention of incentives on the sale and purchase of properties in urban conservation areas where the purchaser signs a guarantee to restore the property without subdivision.
The incentives, it says in proposals for the Budget 2024, should be extended to all vernacular and postwar properties including UCA where the buyer undertakes to preserve the integrity of the property, respecting and not exceeding the surrounding traditional village heights. A fiscal incentive scheme should also be introduced to encourage the restoration and conversion of existing traditional properties and bring them back to life as residential homes, boutique hotels.
The proposals were made amid growing concern about overdevelopment destroying Gozo's characteristics. Property sales on the sister island have for the past few years enjoyed tax incentives. A report published earlier this year showed that Gozo showed the largest increase in asking price across the entire country in the last quarter of 2022 while the stock of properties on that island also rose.
In May a coalition of Gozitan entities asked the government to place a moratorium on new planning applications outside of the development zone and pause planning policies that allow for extended building heights until a regional plan designed specifically for Gozo can be developed.
Building of new ferry
In other proposals, the GTA calls for the start of works on an airfield for a fixed-wing service and the building of a new ferry, identical to the three commissioned in the 1980s, to replace the older, leased Nikolaus.
It also calls for a ringfence of the ECO contributions collected from Gozitan accommodation units to be invested in product upgrading like kitting up areas for the diving community; the allocation of more funds for a Gozo Natatorium and the Gozo Museum and the rebuilding of the Marsalforn Road which should incorporate part of the Victoria ring road to eventually ease traffic flow through the capital’s core.
It also calls for incentives to operators specialising in winter breaks and longer stays in Gozo.
Public sector should not compete with private sector for workers
In proposals on human resources, it suggests the introduction of a grant scheme for local students who opt to work during the weekends or their holidays in Gozitan tourism establishments.
The government is also urged to ensure that the public sector is no longer in competition with the private sector for the recruitment of employees.