Archive.may06

Ta' Xbiex, 25/05/06 - BTI Active Travel has joined the HRG worldwide network, saying it "believes the Hogg Robinson value driven corporate services strategy is the approach it wishes to adopt in the future".

Mario Borg, managing director of BTI Active Travel, said: "Following the announcement earlier this year that the two shareholders in Business Travel International, Hogg Robinson and BCD Holdings, had decided to follow their own strategies, we had a choice of which of the two shareholders' future networks to join. We have known and worked closely with Hogg Robinson since we joined BTI in 2001 and have a good relationship with them. We like their corporate services approach, of offering overall value to clients as well as providing low cost options, and look forward to working with them to provide a comprehensive range of services to our clients.

"We are really excited to be part of HRG. We believe in Hogg Robinson's vision and their leading non-aligned technology. Their proven global leadership linked to our international expertise and local market knowledge is a good recipe for continuing success. I am confident that through HRG will be able to add further value to our corporate clients. We will be changing our name to HRG Active Travel to ensure we reflect and act as a seamless company."

David Radcliffe, chief executive of Hogg Robinson, said: "We are delighted that BTI Active Travel has decided to join HRG. Our contracted partners are all highly respected in their markets and have an excellent reputation for client service in both the international and local arenas; BTI Active Travel endorses this status. Our strong network, which has been built on a proven track record of international experience in the corporate travel market, extends to 89 countries all of which are of key commercial importance to both multinational corporations and national companies."

Valletta, 25/05/06 - Last year 61,607 foreign students attended English language courses at one of the 39 English language schools that operate on the islands, the National Statistics Office reports. This was an increase of 6,029 students or 10.8 per cent over the 2004 total. And as in previous years, there were more female students.

As in previous years, the highest number of students came from Germany - 25.8 per cent. Italians took second place with 17.1 per cent followed by French pupils with 13 per cent, Russians with 8.7 per cent and Austrians accounted for 7.6 per cent.

European students made up 94.1 per cent of all foreign English language students, with 71.9 per cent coming from European Union countries, a decrease of 2.2 per cent over the previous year. Students from other European countries accounted for 22.2 per cent, the same as in 2004. Asia represented 4.5 per cent, Africa 0.84 per cent and America 0.4 per cent. Just 0.2 per cent of the students came from "other" countries. Interestingly, 43 students came from English speaking countries - Canada and the United Kingdom.

Foreign students accounted for 5.3 per cent of the total number of tourists visiting Malta in 2005, a slight increase of 0.4 per cent over 2004. Yet this percentage rose to 9.4 per cent when calculated over the total number of tourist coming from non-English speaking countries.

In cases there were more students from some countries than tourists. For example, Slovak students accounted for 46.7 per cent of all visitors from Slovakia, Russian students accounted for 32.1 per cent of all tourists from Russia, Polish students accounted for 21.8 per cent of Poles visiting Malta in 2005 and Ukrainian students accounted for 21.1 per cent of Ukrainian travellers.

While the highest percentage of tourists, 44.0 per cent, visited Malta in the shoulder months, most students studying English arrived in the summer. Students arriving in July, August and September accounted for 60.5 per cent while 30.8 per cent came to Malta in the shoulder months of March, April, May, June and October. Only 8.7 per cent of students attended English language courses in winter.

Despite having the highest population of students in summer, the longest stay was in winter. This stood at 3.4 weeks per student, whilst in the shoulder period and in summer the average length of stay was 2.4 and 2.3 weeks respectively. Males stayed slightly longer than females, with an average number of 2.6 weeks. Females stayed for an average of 2.3 weeks.

Students aged between 21 and 25 stayed the longest with an average of 3.1 weeks, whilst those aged 15 years and under and over 31 had the shortest stay with an average of 1.9 weeks per student. Libyan students stayed the longest with an average of 8.8 weeks whilst Austrians had the shortest stay with an average of 1.5 weeks per student.

The number of teaching staff in these schools totalled 1,203, a decrease of 97 or 7.5 per cent over the previous year. Most of these employees, 1,121 or 93.2 per cent, were engaged on a part-time basis.

Valletta, 25/05/06 - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a set of guidelines aimed at Maltese citizens planning to travel to Germany next month to watch world cup matches.

Most, if not all, points are pretty straightforward and are common sense such as: "ensure that you have a valid passport and national ID card".

Others are pretty good ideas that all travellers should adopt. The ministry suggests that travellers make copies of their passport, travel and insurance details and leave them with family or friends and carry them with you. But the really good suggestion is to "hold the information in a secure email account for access in Germany".

It is also suggested that travellers apply for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). The card, which has replaced the E111 paper form, benefits EU citizens by providing them with a single personalised card that demonstrates their right to access public healthcare in another EU member state.

Tips also include how to comport oneself in Germany and behave at stadia; for example racist banners should not be displayed nor should offensive gestures be made.

The ministry's guidelines offer sensible advice, not only to those travelling to Germany for the world cup but for travellers in general. Click to download the advisory.

Brussels, 25/05/06 - The European Travel Commission is forecasting a record tourism year for 2006, surpassing the record 13.1 million set in 2000.

American arrivals in Europe have continued to climb for three consecutive years, despite fluctuating exchange rates. Arrivals reached 12.6 million in 2005, up four percentage points from 2000, passing the ETC's projected 12.4 million.

Visitors are showing an increased tendency to hop from one European destination to another, according to the ETC, thanks to the proliferation of low-cost European carriers.

In addition, northern Europe and the Mediterranean were among the top destinations for US cruise passengers last year, with ports in the Mediterranean, in particular, gearing up to face increased demand.

Valletta, 23/05/06 - After a precarious Q1, during which tourist arrivals dropped by 3.9 per cent compared to the first three months of 2005, the MTA is confident that the situation is reversing itself.

Earlier this month the Ministry for Tourism and Culture issued a statement saying that arrival figures for the rest of the year "will take a positive trend from April onwards", (see Tourism Ministry indicates U-turn in '06 arrivals).

Now, MTA executive chairman Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud tells Island Travel Trader Online that, "all being equal", he expects an increase of 3.5 per cent in arrivals this year. That means an additional 40,971 tourists over 2005's figure of 1,170,610 visitors.

Tourism statistics for April are not yet available; but, according to figures published by Malta International Airport there were 116,172 people flying out of Malta in April, an increase of 13.2 per cent over April last year. These figures, however, also include departing Malta residents.

Valletta, 22/05/06 - "This is an historic moment for our country", declared Malta Tourism Authority executive chairman Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud when he announced details of the MTA's $1 million (Lm336,626) advertising campaign at a press conference, held in a corridor at the authority's head office.

The 30-second adverts on CNN will be seen four times a day - starting today - by some "118 million households in 95 countries" in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Contrary to popular belief, of these 118 million CNN viewers, only 1.5 million watch the channel in a hotel, the absolute majority of around 98 per cent see it at home, said Lungaro-Mifsud.

The adverts will be aired during prime time programming until the end of June. Following a break for the summer, the campaign will resume in September. In addition to the 30-second adverts the MTA will also be sponsoring the CNN weather report with a 10-second spot before and after the report; "thus having a continuous and constant presence during the day. Apart from this, we will also be obtaining the added value of the same sponsorship being present on the weather page of www.cnn.com until January 2007", continued the MTA's executive chairman.

Filming and production of the adverts was carried out by a CNN crew who came to Malta and shot various actors at several locations of interest on the islands. The first agreement with CNN was for the production of two adverts, but after discussions, the MTA obtained the filming and production of another two spots, for the same price. A fourth and last advert will be shot in the second week of June. Lungaro-Mifsud did say how much production cost.

"The theme chosen for the campaign was 'I am Malta', a theme that emphasizes the most important aspects of our tourism industry - our people. The adverts show Maltese addressing the camera and showing a true, honest and hospitable Malta".

Funding for the campaign was made possible by the MTA's restructuring. The authority is now "leaner and more cost-effective".

And "this can be seen in the fact that whereas in 2004 the MTA spent 60 per cent of its budget on advertising and marketing and 40 per cent on administration and operational costs; this year it is projecting to spend 72 per cent of its budget on marketing and 28 per cent on administration and back-office operations", explained Lungaro-Mifsud.

"In real terms, this entails an increase of Lm1.7 million in advertising and marketing and a decrease of around Lm900,000 in our operational costs over two years", he added.

Valletta, 22/05/06 - If there's one sector of the tourism industry that is looking good this year, it's cruising. And figures issued by the National Statistics Office for April show an increase of 14,524 passengers visiting the islands over the corresponding month a year ago.

Last month 37,182 cruise liner passengers disembarked here. Most were German, Spanish and American with each nationality disembarking 8,294, 4,304 and 1,291 passengers respectively.

On the other hand, there were 556 fewer Italians, down to 694 from 1,250 in April 2005.

In the first four months of the year, the number of cruise passengers that visited Malta went up by 47.9 per cent, to 56,681 - an increase of 18,348 over the corresponding period in 2005. The major source markets for cruise passengers were Germany (19,375), Italy (10,020), Spain (7,665), and the US (4,749).

London, 19/05/06 - British Airways today announced a pre-tax profit of £620 million (Lm391mn) for the year to 31 March, up from £513 million (Lm324mn) in 2005. The pre-tax profit for the fourth quarter was £91 million (Lm57mn), a massive turnaround over 2005's £6 million (Lm3.8mn) loss.

Operating profit for the year was £705 million (Lm445mn) and £93 million (Lm58.7mn) for the quarter.

Willie Walsh, British Airways' chief executive, said: "These are good results with revenue performance driven by improvements in seat factors and yield.

"We achieved an operating margin of 8.3 per cent and, as a result, all our staff will share in a £48 million (Lm30.3mn) bonus. We remain committed to our goal of reaching a 10 per cent margin by 2008. Our short-haul business is now in profit for the first time in 10 years but we have still more to do.

"Total costs, however, are up 8.2 per cent with fuel and employee costs a challenge. Our annual fuel bill rose by 44.7 per cent to £1.6 billion (Lm1.1bn). Employees costs were up five per cent.

Martin Broughton, BA's chairman, said: "Market conditions remain broadly unchanged. For the year to March 2007 total revenue is expected to improve by five to six per cent, up from a previous estimate of four to five per cent, due to the impact of the latest fuel surcharges and increases in seat factor. Capacity is expected to increase by 2.5 to three per cent, with a small decline in yields, excluding fuel surcharges.

Luqa, 18/05/06 - Air Malta has introduced a voluntary redundancy scheme (VRS) after extensive consultation and negotiations with the four unions representing its employees - the Airline Pilots' Association (Malta), the Association of Airline Engineers, the General Workers' Union and the Union of Cabin Crew.

Employees who have worked fulltime for a minimum of seven years are entitled to take voluntary redundancy. Eligible employees can choose between two schemes.

Under scheme A, employees will be paid the equivalent of one month's basic wage per year of paid employment up to a maximum of Lm25,000 or 65 per cent of their remaining basic wage up to the retirement age applicable to them at the closing date for the receipt of applications for the VRS, whichever is the lower. This calculation will be made on the basic wage applicable on 15 September 2006.

With scheme B, employees who will be 58 years old and over on 15 September 2006 and with varying lengths of service will be paid the following:

• those who have worked at KM for a minimum of seven years but less than 10 will be paid a sum equivalent to one year basic wage or their basic wage up to the retirement age applicable to them on the closing date for the receipt of applications for the VRS whichever is the lower.

• those with more than 10 years but less than 20 years paid employment will be paid a sum equivalent to 1.5 years basic wage or their basic wage up to the retirement age applicable to them on the closing date for the receipt of applications for the VRS, whichever is the lower.

• those with over 20 years paid employment, a sum equivalent to two years basic wage or their basic wage up to the retirement age applicable to them on the closing date for the receipt of applications for the VRS, whichever is the lower, will be paid to them.

This voluntary redundancy scheme, says Air Malta, is the only one that it will operate "and no subsequent schemes will be offered".

This scheme is another plank in the airline's "rescue plan agreement". The agreement was signed in May 2004 with all the unions representing Air Malta's employees and is aimed at returning the airline to profitability. "The three-year agreement has paved the way for restructuring without the airline engaging itself in forced redundancies".

Mosta, 18/05/06 - In less than a fortnight, on 1 June, Italy's main low-fare carrier Meridiana will start a new frequency to Malta. What stands out about this new service is that flights from Malta will cost twice as much as from Bologna.

Meridiana, formerly Alisarda, will operate two direct flights a week from Bologna to Malta - on Thursday and Sunday using a165-seater MD80 aircraft. Meridiana is offering cheap fares, starting from €9 (Lm3.85) - excluding taxes, for a one-way flight. However, expect to pay much more from Malta.

The Bologna-Malta sector on 8 June, for instance, will cost €59.62 (Lm25.50) per person including the following taxes and charges:
• a security bag charge of €1.83 (78c)
• Bologna council city tax of €2 (86c)
• Embarkation tax of €5.98 (Lm2.56)
• Fuel surcharge of € 30 (12.83)
• security charge of €1.81 (77c)
• a crisis surcharge (whatever that is) of €6 (Lm2.57)
• an administration charge of €3 (Lm1.28)
plus, of course, the actual air fare of €9 (Lm3.85).

The return flight from MIA, meanwhile, will set you back €112.61 (Lm48.17) per person. From Malta the price breakdown is not so clearly identified because Meridiana uses acronyms without explanations. Apart from the €9 fare there is:
• "DB" of €2.19 (94c)
• "MT" of €46.58 (Lm19.93), this is presumably charges applied by MIA and local taxes
• a fuel surcharge of €30 (Lm12.83)
• "UF" of €15.84 (Lm6.78)
• a crisis surcharge of €6 (Lm2.57)
• an administration charge of €3 (Lm1.28)

Flights will leave Bologna on Thursdays and Sundays at 13:15 and arrive in Malta at 15:00. Return services will depart from MIA at 15:40 and arrive in Bologna at 17:30. Bookings are available online at www.meridiana.com or by contacting the airline's call centre in Italy on +39 0789 52682.

Marseilles, 18/05/06 - Ryanair has selected Marseilles as its 16th European base. Ryanair will invest more $120 million (Lm39.9mn) in two new aircraft that from November will serve 13 routes and deliver "almost one million passengers a year". From November, Ryanair will connect Marseilles to Brussels, Dublin, Eindhoven, Fez, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Karlsruhe Baden, London, Marrakech, Oujda, Oslo, Porto and Rome.

Michael O'Leary, Ryanair's CEO said: "Ryanair's first base in France marks a major breakthrough for French passengers and visitors who will no longer suffer Air France's high fares. This base will revolutionise travel to and from the Provence region. It would not have been possible without Marseilles Provence airport who have developed a low cost terminal that has won them this base despite intense competition from five other low cost European airports.

"Now Marseilles airport which has suffered a passenger decline from 6.5 million in 2000 to 5.8 million in 2006 will achieve record growth in 06/07 thanks to this new low cost partnership with Ryanair.

"Ryanair's low fare routes are good news for business and tourism in Provence. Marseilles airport will become the low fare airport for the south of France as Ryanair delivers almost one million passengers a year. This traffic will sustain 1,000 jobs whilst allowing passengers in the region to enjoy low fare flights and end the high fare monopoly of Air France".

Seats on these new routes are available for immediate booking on from just €1 (43c) - excluding taxes.

London, 18/05/06 - Air Malta has introduced two special fares to Malta from London Gatwick and Manchester. Flights from Gatwick to Malta start from £89 (Lm56.12) return, including taxes, on direct services from 7 November to 10 December and from 9 January to 11 March 2007.

The price tag from Manchester to Malta starts from £99 (Lm62.43) return including taxes running during the same dates.

Valletta, 16/05/06 - The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) has started work on a new 2,000 square metre, perched sandy beach at Dawret il-Gzejjer in Bugibba - adjacent to the Dolmen Resort Hotel's beach club.

The job involves constructing a perched structure to contain the sand, storm water and drainage works, building new a staircase and an 80 metre-long ramp for full accessibility, a beach management room, a lifeguard post and public toilets.

This is the first project of its kind in Malta, following the beach extension at St George's Bay in 2004, which was also carried out by the MTA.

The works got underway with the erection of a boundary wall "to restrict public access on the site for safety reasons".

Engineering works are expected to start later this month and be completed by mid-June when sand, shipped from Jordan, will be laid. The spreading of the sand is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Commenting on the project, MTA executive chairman Romwald Lungaro-Mifsud said that the start of work on the perched sandy beach "is going according to plan, and will enhance the overall tourism product on offer as well as adding another beach for the use of both tourists and locals".

When the construction of the new beach is completed, it is expected that its day to day running will be carried out by the MTA whilst a portion will be leased to private enterprise, as was done at St George's Bay (see Beach management, the modern way).

Leasing beach realty is now government policy. At the end of May 2005 prime minister Lawrence Gonzi said the government intends to rehabilitate beaches at the rate of one a year and to introduce "modern beach management practices". He did not explain what modern beach management is, but did add that "the company which obtains a concession on a beach must care not just for its own restricted area but for the whole of the beach".

Obvious interested parties are the Dolmen Resort and the Grand Hotel Mercure San Antonio; the former already has a beach concession metres from the new sandy beach whilst the latter finds itself in the same situation as the InterContinental did last year - being close to a beach, but not having a private area for use by its guests.

Valletta, 16/05/06 - In May 17,116 residents travelled abroad, according to the National Statistics Office. Of these, 16,417 travelled by air, a drop of 11.8 per cent when compared to the same month last year.

In the first quarter of 2006, meanwhile, 42,213 Malta residents left the islands, a decrease of 10.3 per cent over Q1 of 2005.

In the period under review, the most popular destination continued to be the United Kingdom, accounting for 29.2 per cent of the total number of residents travelling abroad. Other popular destinations were Italy, Belgium and Germany.

In the first three months of 2006 male passengers significantly outnumbered females with 66.5 per cent of the total.

The greatest proportion of travellers - 46 per cent - were aged between 25 and 44, followed by those in the 45-64 age range and 15-24 years age brackets, at 44.5 and 5.8 per cent respectively.

Mosta, 16/05/06 - British tour operator Thomson says that the proportion of its holidays and flights booked online has reached 50 per cent, three years earlier than it had forecast, e-tid.com reports.

Miles Morgan, Thomson sales and marketing director, said: "Travel websites are effectively becoming virtual travel agents. The days when people picked a holiday from a brochure and walked into a travel agent to book are over. We have seen massive growth in online bookings over the last year as the site content expands and the booking process becomes easier and fun to use".

Innovations introduced to Thomson's site include destination videos and customers' own reviews of their holidays. The site currently includes more than 5,000 reviews, which Morgan said formed part of the company's "tell it like it is" policy of giving customers "honest views about the trip before they buy".

Thomson expects to take more than five million customers on overseas trips this year, up from four million in 2005, with the growth driven by more people "picking and mixing" flights, hotels and villas themselves to create their own package.

Mosta, 16/05/06 - British tour operators are well placed to compete against the online travel agencies, according to a report by PhocusWright, writes Bev Fearis in TravelMole.

The US-based travel and tourism research firm said TUI, Thomas Cook and MyTravel are "extremely powerful" and were a threat to online players like Travelocity and Expedia.

Echoing the findings of a report on internet booking trends by Mintel the PhocusWright report said traditional tour operators and airlines have been late with their online strategies but were now making up for lost time.

"In both segments, the move by the established players, while in many cases at least one year late, has been aggressive in the UK, effective and strongly driven by internet marketing, raising the profile of search and deals publishers," it said.

"Tour operators are either zeroing in on their own highest margin product distributed through their own channels, or they are moving online with unbundled products, dynamic packaging and third party inventories, directly challenging online travel agencies."

It said market share has now shifted, so that in 2005 66 per cent of internet bookings in Europe were through supplier and tour operator websites and 34 per cent through online agencies. In 2002, the split was 54 per cent to 46 per cent.

"Long term relationships with traditional airlines and leisure hotels offer tour operators some advantage over online travel agencies and there is a clear trend of tour operators withholding their best prices and inventory from the online travel agencies."

The report said 15 per cent of TUI's bookings across Europe were online in 2005, while call centre and online bookings combined accounted for 25 per cent.

"TUI seeks to be the director of traffic for its product, going as far as to imply that it may develop a travel search engine for its own products and even for third parties."

Valletta, 05/05/06 - The Ministry for Tourism and Culture has stuck its neck out by "indicating" that arrival figures for the rest of the year "will take a positive trend from April onwards".

In a tortuous press release, the ministry explains that because Easter was in April this year it caused a shortfall in tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2006. In Q1 there were 3.9 per cent fewer visitors than in the same period in 2005 - 162,164 compared to 168,794.

"The date when Easter is celebrated has an impact on the number of tourists that visit Malta in this particular month and on the period that includes Easter. For this reason it will be much better if, for statistical reasons, March and April are taken together and the seasonal results are given for the first four months of the year instead of the first three months", reads the ministry's release.

Figures from the National Statistics Office show that 64,018 tourists left Malta by air in March - 9.3 per cent less than in March 2005 - whilst air departures in the first three months of the year decreased by 3.4 per cent (see Data bank - Tourism arrivals down 4% in Q1 2006).

Figures released by the airport operator, meanwhile, show that in the first three months of the year there were 5.3 per cent fewer outgoing passengers than in Q1 of 2005. These figures include Malta residents travelling abroad and, "since it results that the number of departing Maltese has decreased in the same period, the number of tourists visiting Malta decreased by a lesser percentage than indicated in the MIA figures", the ministry's release explains.

Air departure figures for the first three weeks of April show an increase of 14.5 per cent in passenger movements at Malta International Airport. "These figures, if added to those of the first three months, are expected to indicate an encouraging increase in the number of passengers who visited Malta in the first four months of this year", the ministry declares.

The Tourism Ministry's press release concludes by "reminding the general public that since the beginning of this year it indicated a decrease in the number of tourist arrivals for the first quarter. The ministry also indicated that the tourism sector will take a positive trend from April onwards".

Meanwhile, according to statistics collected by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) from AC Nielsen TravelTrack, who monitor advance bookings performance and who source more than 4,000 UK sales points have reported that at the end of February Malta was 13 per cent down in forward bookings for summer 2006.

Figures for Malta are in the region of 34,556 passengers while last year the figure held at the end of February was 39,527.

Consequently, it is unclear how the Ministry for Tourism has calculated that tourism arrivals are going to pick up, dramatically or otherwise.

Sliema, 05/05/06 - From a survey conducted by Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) amongst its' members, the occupancy levels in the majority of hotels in the Sliema/St Julian's area over the Easter period were reported to have been better than last year. However, in the north, the south of the island and in Gozo occupancies in hotels were below last year's level, in spite of the fact that this year Easter fell in mid-April.

Most restaurant operations in hotels and stand-alone restaurants all reported worse cover take-up over the holiday period compared to last year. Few indicated a better performance this year over last year's results.

The main restaurant-goers are normally residents and restaurateurs "fear that the drop in covers is mainly due to the drop in the spending power of the locals, in view of the exorbitant energy costs they now have to bear"

MHRA president Justin Zammit Tabona expressed concern over the restaurant sector that is "suffering badly in generating revenue and meeting ever rising costs.

"Government", he says, "must look at this sector and extend some incentives for these to remain sustainable. They provide employment and service to locals and visitors alike and these must remain competitive".

In another survey conducted by MHRA, in March five star hotels reported an increase in their occupancy levels of around six to seven per cent, whilst hotels in the four and three star categories reported a drop of around seven and 15 per cent respectively.

The major drops were in hotels in the north and south of the island, whilst hotels in the Sliema/St Julian's area fared only slightly worse than last year.

For the month of April, five star hotels are predicting a similar increase as in March, whilst four star properties are at par with last year and three star hotels are around seven per cent lower than last year.

Mosta, 05/05/06 - SITA, a leading service provider of IT business solutions and communications services to the air transport industry, has been contracted by Air Malta to provide the airline with its entire information and communication technology (ICT) network. The airline will retain control of its overall ICT strategy and project management whilst outsourcing day-to-day operations to SITA.

"This deal is a win-win situation for us as we will cut costs while gaining significantly better systems," says Air Malta board member Joseph Fenech Conti. "In addition our ICT staff will have the chance to work with a premiere IT company and gain invaluable experience. SITA's focus and dedication is making our business future-proof and ensuring we will remain competitive for years to come."

Air Malta recognised it needed to make improvements to its ICT infrastructure and introduce new services for its travellers. In addition to facing the usual cost pressures such as the rising price of fuel, the airline also has to contend with increasing competition.

After an extensive review Air Malta determined that the best way to remain competitive and rapidly gain leading edge technology was to outsource its ICT to a single provider, allowing it to concentrate and focus its efforts on its core business. SITA was selected because of its extensive ATI expertise, rigorous assessment process, and ability to deliver fully managed end-to-end solutions. SITA has been contracted to manage the flag carrier's ICT network for seven years.

"Through this deal SITA is demonstrating its ability to provide innovative ICT solutions, integrating elements such as IP-based telephony, call centre applications, data centre, desktop and network services and third party contract management," says SITA VP Damiano Sabatino. "We are proud to be Air Malta's partner in this exciting opportunity and are confident of the rewards they will reap by outsourcing to us."

Sliema, 05/05/06 - Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi officially inaugurated the fifth - and, at Lm10 million, the costliest - extension of the Hotel Fortina Spa Resort last Sunday.

What makes this extension exceptional is that the new Fortina tower block houses the world's first therapeutic spa bedrooms.

There are a choice of bedrooms with private outdoor spa, whirlpool and patio. All spa rooms have large balconies with sun beds. There are also suites with private roof gardens equipped with seawater swimming pools and underwater massage, a shower and a barbecue. Private chefs are available at a supplement as well as therapists, offering a variety of facials and massages in-room. On a raised plateau in the corner of the rooms (right) is a spa for two with several programmes.

In the bathrooms there is a pressure massage shower and steam room designed for two, a therapeutic bath providing up to seven different programmes and a stress buster machine which increases oxygen intake, lymphatic drainage and metabolism. Every spa bedroom contains a dermalife machine, the most up to date technology for body detoxification therapy. It has a vibrating massage effect and a system that helps to draw out impurities.

The price tag for a spa bedroom? From Lm95 per person per night in the low season, escalating to Lm120 in mid-summer. Expensive? Not at all, when one considers that these are all-inclusive prices - bed, breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks are all covered.

The tower block houses the five star section of the Fortina; besides the spa bedrooms there are also standard rooms at Lm45 per person per night in winter rising to Lm70 in the peak season - here, too, rates are all-inclusive.

The older block, adjacent to the new tower, contains the original four star hotel. Rooms here are also top-notch, but do not include oh la la facilities. And this is reflected in the all-inclusive rates: Lm37 in winter going up to Lm53 per person in high summer.

The original 88 bed Hotel Fortina, costing around Lm115,000, was opened in 1966. Twelve years later, in 1978, the property was extended to a capacity of 200 beds. The Fortina was extensively renovated in 1986 and expanded with the development that extends under the existing road, and included a beach club along with a restaurant, a bar and a gym. In 1992 a third extension was given the go ahead, this included the addition of another 150 de luxe beds, which were built at the rear of the hotel overlooking the newly developed tropical garden, increasing the hotel's capacity to 400 beds.

In 1992 the Fortina launched itself into the spa market with the development of one of the islands' first spas - the Spa Mediterranee. This latest development brings the total number of beds up to 700, sees a further three spas and, of course, the world's first therapeutic spa bedrooms.

"This latest development is the most exciting one for us because it has placed the Fortina in a unique position as a five star resort that completely caters for the emerging spa traveller", says managing director Michael Zammit Tabona, who is assisted in running the company by his brothers Adrian and Julian.

"We used all the experience gained to create and design one of the most extensive spas in the world where people can enjoy numerous treatments within the privacy of their own bedroom. There are no hotel bedrooms in the world that offer so many facilities within the room.

"We are now seeing guests coming to the Fortina to relax, de-stress and detox in a calm and soothing environment where they can indulge in the extensive spa facilities. Guests can also enjoy the dine around the world concept where they can experience fine dining from a choice of eight restaurants, which serve Chinese, Thai, Mediterranean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indian, French and health cuisines", Zammit Tabona adds.

To market and sell this unique facility a dedicated agency has been set up by veteran tour operator Carmelo Montebello; called Spa Travel the Sliema-based company is about to launch a series of packages on the continental market.

Valletta, 05/05/06 - Tourist arrivals may be down in the first three months of 2006, but the cruising industry is notching up gains for Q1.

In the first three months of the year 19,499 cruise liner passengers visited Malta, up 24.4 per cent over the same period in 2005.

The major markets for cruise passengers were Germany (8,879), Italy (3,927), the UK (1,752) and Spain (1,375).

During the period under review there were more males cruising than females - 50.9 per cent as against 49.1 per cent. Moreover, 38.6 per cent of cruise passengers were between 60 and 79 years old.

Luqa, 05/05/06 - This summer Air Malta has doubled its scheduled services to Rome to two daily flights.

With fares starting from Lm58 return (excluding taxes), Air Malta passengers can fly to Rome on a direct afternoon service on weekdays leaving at 16:00 and arriving at 17:30 in the Italian capital. The return flight leaves Rome at 18:30 and operates via Reggio Calabria, arriving in Malta at 21:05.

Morning flights depart at 06:45 from Malta to Reggio Calabria and onwards to Rome; arriving there at 09:10. The return flight takes off from Rome at 12:1 arriving at MIA at 13:35. On weekends KM operates a once daily flight departing Malta at 09:40 and arriving in Rome at 11:10. The return flight departs Rome at 12:10 arriving in Malta at 13:35.

Valletta, 05/05/06 - The year did not start well for the outbound market. According to just released figures from the National Statistics Office 12,162 residents left the islands in January, a drop of 15.7 per cent over January 2005.

Not surprisingly, the United Kingdom was the favoured destination for Malta-based travellers in January with 31.9 per cent flying there (presumably for the sales), Italy was second with 17.9 per cent and Germany third with 6.9 per cent of the total.

Compared to January 2005 there was a drop of 7.2 per cent and 15.3 points in departures to the UK and Germany respectively. However there was an increase of 7.5 per cent in traffic to Italy this January.

Mosta, 05/05/06 - Visa fees for EU member states are set to rise by more than 70 per cent, from €35 (Lm15) to €60 (Lm12.81). This is another setback for Europe's incoming tourism, which is already facing a declining market share, a joint ECTAA and HOTREC release says. Locally, the MHRA and FATTA are members of HOTREC and ECTAA respectively.

Under the EU's common visa policy, member states apply the same administrative fee for third country nationals requesting an entry visa to the EU. As from 1 January 2007, the EU council has decided to increase the fee by €25 (Lm10.75) to cover the additional security costs relating to the introduction of biometric identifiers. These include the new biometric passports and related airport or border security systems for biometric passport reading and passenger identification.

ECTAA - Group of National Travel Agents' and Tour Operators' Associations within the EU - and HOTREC - Hotels, Restaurants and Cafés in Europe - are concerned about the imminent increase of visa fees. This will have a significant impact on Europe's incoming tourism, which is facing increasing competition from cheaper destinations in other parts of the world. Says ECTAA president Norbert Draskovits: "Europe's incoming tourism cannot be sustainable in an environment, where increasing charges are levied on the travelling public, such as security costs related to biometric identifiers. Such costs should not be passed on to the tourists. As a major contributor to growth and employment, European decision makers should focus their efforts on improving the competitiveness of the European tourism industry."