The Mediterranean Tourism Forum has officially kicked off in Malta, with 30 different countries paving the way for the next generation of tourists.
Together with stakeholders, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, MHRA Chairman Andrew Agius Muscat and Valentina Superti, Director General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Tourism delivered the keynote speeches. opening of the conference.
Bartolo began by emphasizing the importance of the tourism sector in the economy of the European Union. “The Mediterranean provides the EU with one of its economic engines, tourism. Tourism accounts for 30% of the global tourism market and 23% of global tourism sector revenues.
“With these statistics, we need a Mediterranean-focused think tank (The Mediterranean Brain) that focuses on issues that are unique to the region. Malta must act as a leader in the tourism sector by developing new policies and strategies.
Malta’s Post-Pandemic Tourism Recovery Strategy 2021-2030 directly targets these issues. Bartolo believes that Malta is already at the second stage of this plan, that of revitalizing the tourism sector.
“We need to revitalize. The hospitality sector in Malta should be a great example for Mediterranean countries and Malta should also act as a beacon to lead others towards a sustainable and fit for the future tourism sector.
Recovering, rethinking and revitalizing: these are the key areas for the future of tourism of the future, said Bartolo.
Superti has called the Mediterranean region an icon for global tourism. “It is iconic for providing the culture, history, nature, gastronomy and sun and sea evident. Unfortunately these are also fragile due to factors such as climate change and immigration and we do not can only help each other by moving forward.
Throughout the last year, the European Union has considered tourism one of the 14 main powers of the EU economy. Superti said tourism contributes between 10% and 30% of GDP in Europe, including more than 23 million jobs in the sector.
“The consequences of the pandemic are not completely over and the EU must contribute to short-term as well as long-term solutions. We have therefore launched a roadmap for the transition of the EU to meet the needs of the tourist of the future.
Superti said this roadmap is based on three guiding principles which are resilience, sustainability and digitization. “We are in a time where we are moving from one crisis to another and we have to prepare for the future.”
The topics of sustainable transport, especially for tourists, are an ongoing topic of discussion in the EU, according to Superti. She also said that the issue of connectivity with Malta is at the heart of this discussion, the main objective of which is to achieve a balance between better connectivity and sustainability for the environment.
Another major asset of the EU and the tourism sector in Europe are the small and medium-sized enterprises which provide diversity to the tourism sector.
“Malta is also aligning its tourism strategy with that of the EU and I would like to conclude by saying that we are now focusing with the government to implement the plan they have proposed to strengthen not only the Maltese tourism sector but the ‘whole of Europe tourist product’.
