Tourism: Are we truly ready to go for quality?

Malta’s national tourism strategy needs to be refined and experience-driven offering that prioritizes excellence and sustainability to attract more discerning travellers. “The country needs to understand that quantity does not always equate to quality,” warn Sven von der Heyden and Samuel Santos, two leading figures behind some of Malta’s most luxurious properties in the hospitality sector.

“Indeed, our principal focus has been quality,” says Mr Santos, Director at IBB Hotel and Cugó Gran Collection, two high-end hospitality brands with exclusive properties on the Maltese islands, including the first IBB Hotel, Palazzo Bettina, at the Vittoriosa Waterfront.

Santos noted that Palazzo Bettina has registered an excellent start in its first fifteen months of operations with an annual occupancy at around 70%, exceeding the hotel’s expectations. A very high percentage of customer satisfaction was also recorded, exceeding 96% according to Reviewpro.

Santos announced that the company will be adding another luxury hotel to its portfolio, the Cugó Gran Vittoriosa, which is expected to open in spring.

But as competition for higher-end tourism heats up in the Mediterranean, calls for Malta to focus on quality rather than quantity continue to increase.

“The Maltese tourism industry stands at a critical juncture, and now is the time to seriously focus on its quality offering if the country wants to elevate its profile on the international market,” he noted.

Von der Heyden acknowledged that attracting quality tourism requires very hard work.

“The whole ecosystem needs to work together as a unified front to continue strengthening relationships, partnerships, and collaborations between all stakeholders including the Maltese tourism board as well as internationally. It’s all connected and only a collective effort can help elevate the island’s luxury offerings.”

“When we manage to elevate the quality on the island, we will be able to sell Malta as a high-quality destination on the international market and attract a bigger audience that truly appreciates Maltese culture, history, and gastronomy,” added Santos.

Both hoteliers underscored the importance of a strong national airline and cohesive hospitality and transportation offerings and noted how Malta is set to surpass 3.5 million tourist arrivals in 2024, marking a formidable rise to the pre-pandemic peak recorded in 2019.

But to Von der Heyden, the hospitality Group’s founder, these rising numbers are a concern.

“The country needs to understand that quantity does not always equate to quality.

I am somewhat worried about the sheer number of beds hitting the market in the three- and four-star segment.”

“I believe that Malta has reached a saturation point in most aspects of life. To keep the economy growing, we all need to increase room rates, avoid price wars in winter, and focus on elevating the quality of our current stock of hotels,” he added.

This perspective appears to align with the government’s plans for Budget 2025, which prioritises quality across sectors, including tourism.

Another major challenge in achieving higher quality remains the persisting lack of talent.

“The struggle to find the right people here in Malta is an increasingly growing concern. We know that this is also a challenge being experienced internationally, but in Malta, this challenge is exacerbated by the fact that we are a small island where talent becomes even harder to find,” adds Mr Santos.

To Von der Heyden, another crucial reason is housing affordability.

“This is no longer an issue but a pressing concern because how can we attract talent when rents for the smallest apartments hover around €1,000 a month which represents 60-70% of a typical net salary? We need an affordable housing program for the hospitality industry, and probably for others too,” he added.

Both Santos and Von der Heyden agree on the private sector’s crucial role in driving Malta’s higher quality offering.

“We have been working on improving quality since 2018,” says Santos. “We’ve done this together with local partners and collaborators, and we are very open to working closely with the government to achieve this goal.”

“Elevating Malta’s product is everyone’s responsibility if we want to ensure our industry’s competitiveness on an international level. Only if we focus on quality and address these national challenges together we can secure a sustainable future for Malta as a leading hospitality destination,” they concluded.

This article was first published in The Corporate Times.