caption© 2008 MTA - Mario Galea

Parliamentary Secretary Dr. De Marco calls at VISET

On August 22nd Dr Mario De Marco, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism paid a courtesy call to VISET, and was taken through the exhibition “Valletta Waterfront tells its Story in Pictures”.

Chris Paris, CEO of VISET stated that the Valletta Waterfront, was beyond a cruise terminal, it was aimed at offering another quality leisure venue for tourists and locals alike. The constant efforts by the VISET management have seen an improvement in the services offered to cruise line passengers and have placed Malta fourth as best port of call in the Mediterranean, following hot on the tails of giants, Naples, Tunis and Genoa. The aim is to continue to improve on what was already a record year in 2007. This one can say has already been achieved in the first seven months of 2008, which has seen an overall increase of 21% over the same period last year.

© 2008 MTA - Mario Galea

In his, address to the press Parliamentary Secretary Dr Mario De Marco said that the “restoration of the Valletta Waterfront, is completely in-line with the ideal of sustainable tourism, as the project has made best use of our inherited heritage, whilst also respecting it.” He referred further to this year’s statistics and confirmed that the VISET’s aim for 2008 is to have attracted half a million, cruise line passengers to our shores. Dr De Marco added that, “in this tourism segment the challenges presented by the increase in oil prices, can be turned to our advantage if we recognise how to exploit this”. The facts show that due to costs, cruises with shorter voyages are being favoured, and Malta falls within this category of destination.

The Management of VISET also pointed out that this year for the first time, a number of travellers started their cruises from Malta, and the aim is to market this further. When asked about return tourism generated via cruise lining, the statistics show 6%, a figure considered as positive, but with a confident smile, the panel all agreed it is a figure they want to see increasing.