The Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) in Gozo will re-open as usual in the coming weeks despite only a handful of students enrolling.

Last week, students and parents were shocked when they went to the Qala campus to hand in some final documents and were told that there would be no courses because not enough people had enrolled.

Instead, they were told students in Gozo would have to follow courses on offer in Malta, one mother said.

She described that in the past months there had been rumours making the rounds that the campus might not re-open this year due to low number of students who had applied for courses. 

Small number of applicants in Gozo

“It seems that only around eight students signed up this year, with half of them opting to study in Malta,” the parent said.

“We don’t know whether this was because they believed the courses would not take place here or for any other reason.”

Banding together, parents of the remaining students started complaining to the authorities responsible, saying the trips to and from Malta would be too costly.

A few days later, while students were busy figuring out their options, they received a letter from the institute informing them the courses would be taking place in Gozo as planned.

Contacted about the matter, a spokesman for the Tourism Ministry, under whose remit the ITS falls, confirmed the courses will be held in Gozo like previous years.

He also pointed out that the number of courses on offer went up this year, with a course focusing on ‘diving safety’ added to the list.

On the number of students studying in Gozo, the spokesman would not say how many had enrolled, instead telling Times of Malta “student participation remains on the same level as last year”.

He went on to point out, however, that some Gozitan students had opted to pursue their studies in Malta. Meanwhile, parents are insisting that the Gozo campus is not properly promoted, with the focus being mainly on attracting students to Malta.

While the number of students enrolling in Malta increases year after year, that in Gozo continues to dwindle, the parents claimed.

“More needs to be done to promote the Gozo campus. I had people asking me about how they could go about enrolling because they were interested but found little information,” one parent said.

ITS office opens in China

In recent years, the ITS has embarked on an extensive recruitment campaign as part of efforts to encourage young people to pursue a career in the hospitality industry.

The institute has now also set up an office in China for students wishing to study in Malta.