SPEECH BY THE HONOURABLE EDWARD FENECH-ADAMI, PRIME
MINISTER, AT THE OFFICIAL INAUGURATION OF THE GRAND HOTEL MERCURE
CORALIA SAN ANTONIO. FRIDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2002
I was extremely pleased to accept the invitation extended to me by the
Directors of the Grand Hotel Mercure Coralia San Antonio to inaugurate
this hotel. Today is yet another important milestone in the private
sector’s initiatives to promote Malta’s tourism industry. Today’s
event is also a positive reflection of the success that my Government’s
policies have had in strengthening such a vital part of Malta’s
economy.
I was indeed pleased to read that although the Grand
Hotel Mercure Coralia San Antonio has only been on the market for the
past few months, the hotel has regularly achieved a 60% occupancy level,
this despite recessionary conditions in some of our main source markets
and a general world wide slowdown in tourism, made worse by the 11th
September terrorist attack on America.
Attaining a 60% occupancy level, especially during
the low season months of January and February, is indeed a notable
achievement. This is a tangible and most encouraging result and a credit
to your marketing team. It is also an endorsement of my Minister’s
views about the industry’s resilience and his cautiously optimistic
remarks about the recovery of tourism and the industry’s expected
performance for the rest of this year.
The Grand Hotel Mercure Coralia San Antonio is
moreover, a very visible confirmation of the trade’s support for a
government policy which favours a controlled tourism development
strategy, and the upgrading and refurbishment of existing hotels, rather
than the building of new properties. I have closely followed the
development of this hotel and I congratulate the owners, Alpine Holdings
and the Seabank Group, their architects and designers, as well as
everyone who has contributed to the work and planning, for giving the
industry a brand new hotel with all the modern, state of the art
amenities and facilities on the site of a previous property.
I am further heartened by the hotel management
partnership venture between Air Malta and Group Accor, which already
operates hotels and a casino in Malta, and no less by Accor’s
continued interest in Malta’s tourism industry. The news that Accor,
the third largest hotel group in the world, intends to strengthen its
participation portfolio in Malta’s tourism and will introduce its
renowned Sofitel brand in 2003 when it takes over the management of a
five star property, is indeed most encouraging. This is a further sign
that Malta has achieved lasting international recognition and is
considered a worthwhile proposition for investment in the leisure
industry.
I see Accor’s commitment to Malta, as that of other
leading European and US brands which presently manage or own Maltese
hotel properties, as a clear signal that the international leisure
community sees bright prospects for the future of our tourism industry.
These prospects will be greatly enhanced through Malta’s membership of
the European Union and I am glad to see that the vast majority of
Maltese tourism operators and workers within the industry are of the
same opinion.
Our industry is well organised, our managers
experienced, our work force well trained and they are moreover overtly
keen to grasp the great opportunities that lie ahead of them to compete
and win in a larger European market place and attain bigger and better
achievements which their endeavours deservedly merit.
I wish the Grand Hotel Mercure Coralia San Antonio,
its owners and its operators the best of luck in their endeavours to
promote their property and tourism to Malta. I have no doubt your
investment will be justly rewarded.
