More than three-fourths of respondents to a Gozo Tourism Association survey believe their establishment cannot survive beyond December in the current situation.
Their main concerns are lack of revenue, employee costs, VAT and other tax payments, utilities, and COVID-19 restrictions.
The GTA conducted the survey among its members in the past days to understand better the sustained effects brought about by the pandemic on the Gozitan tourism sector.
The findings will help it review the measures deemed to be more effective for the Gozitan tourism establishments and assist in mitigating the impact.
Respondents came from a variety of sectors including accommodation sectors, restaurants, diving centres, tourist attractions, transport, tour operators, DMCs, travel agencies, real estate and tourism consultancy firms.
As expected, all establishments reported lower revenue than last year. The majority said this was between 55% to 65% less than in 2019.
Eighty per cent said that they did not affect any redundancies even though several sectors were closed or not operating.
However, if the situation remained unchanged, 18% reported that they will start laying off employees, while 35% will carry on with their respective operation, and a further 14% will contemplate closing down.
Other respondents will take decisions on a day by day basis while 10% envisage a change in the services they are presently offering. On the other hand, 32% said they have engaged new employees after May 2020.
Seventy-five per cent said the government aid was very good leverage for their operation. Yet if the current situation prevails beyond December, they perceive redundancies.
Other questions covered the issue of rent with 57% saying they operated from their own premises. From the remaining 43% operating from rented premises, 44% said the government grant of €2,500 was satisfactory, while 56% said it was not sufficient.
The majority of respondents in this survey (87%) said that without the government’s financial support they cannot operate beyond September.
The tourism operators were also asked about the government vouchers with 86% saying they were accepting them.
Twenty-one per cent said payments by vouchers was between 50% and 75% of their revenue, while 23% said these amounted to 25% to 49% of their current revenue. The other 56% said their revenue from the vouchers was 10% to 24%.
The findings of this survey will be included in a report which the Gozo Tourism Association is compiling and which be eventually will be presented to the authorities.