Q BOV - Deloitte Hotels Survey PAGE 1/2. MAHE Training Seminar PAGE 4. New objectives for the late-night entertainment PAGE 6

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1 INTOUCH MHRA s e-magazine ISSUE 5/2015 In this issue: Airport Passengers - New May record PAGE 1 Q BOV - Deloitte Hotels Survey PAGE 1/ Dialogue Tourism PAGE 3 MAHE Training Seminar PAGE 4 MBB presents report PAGE 4/5 New objectives for the late-night entertainment PAGE 6 UNWTO message - World Environment Day 2015 PAGE 7 Survey -Evaluation of Cohesion Policy PAGE 7/8

2 INTOUCH Page 1 AIRPORT PASSENGER NUMBERS RISE TO NEW MAY RECORD Malta International Airport last month saw an increase of 9.9 per cent in passenger traffic over the same month last year, welcoming a record number of 441,943 passengers. This figure is higher than the passenger numbers registered in the August peak of 2011 (427,575 passengers). The airport s busy summer schedule includes two new routes to Helsinki and Warsaw, five new airlines and a number of additional frequencies when compared to last year. Aircraft movements and seat capacity increased by 6.3 per cent when compared to last year. The percentage of filled seats on each flight (seat load factor) increased from 76.4 per cent to 79 per cent in Alan Borg, CEO stated that May s traffic growth was in part the result of additional routes and airlines that were connecting Malta s airport to more parts of the world. He continued that summer also seemed to have come early on a number of the more traditional routes that saw record passengers for this time of year. This showed, Mr Borg maintained that the collaborated efforts with Government and the Malta Tourism Authority to continue to reduce the seasonality of the tourism market were working. These figures, argued Mr Borg encouraged him to keep investing in new markets while continuously enhancing the customer experience at the airport. In May, traffic from Germany rose significantly by 32.1 per cent as a result of Cruise and Fly operations starting two months ahead of last year. Excellent results were also registered in Italy, with a growth of 15.4 per cent. The United Kingdom remains Malta s largest tourism market, up by 1.5 per cent when compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, the Netherlands joined May s leading five markets, following a 15.4 per cent increase on the Amsterdam route. Traffic to and from France dropped by 5.8 per cent due to the reduction of the Toulouse route. Between January and May this year, Malta International Airport saw an increase of 6.5 per cent when compared to last year s figures, hosting a total of 1,528,241 passengers so far. Whilst the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) rose by 3.6 per cent the cargo and mail decreased by 9.5 per cent. QUARTER BOV-DELOITTE HOTELS SURVEY As the number of tourist arrivals continued to grow in Q1 of 2015, the performance of the hotel sector continued to improve. Driven primarily by significant improvements in occupancy, the four-star and five-star sectors reversed the trand of reporting losses in the low-season by recording Q1 profits for the first time int the last five-year period. This is a significant milestone which signals a potential reduction in seasonality. Whislt the three-star sector does not appear to have benefited from occupancy growth its improved and managed cost-base led to a 29% reduction in Q1 losses.

3 INTOUCH Page 2 During the event, Mr Steve Ellul, Portfolio Manger, BOV gave a presentation on Capital Markets Financing Opportunites for the local Tourism Industry. Dr Mario Pace from the University of Malta and Chairman of the Foreign Language Profiency and Certification Working Group gave a presnetation on the Foreign Language Proficiency Amongst Youths in Malta. Mr Konrad Pule, General Manager, Malta Public Transport informed those present on the latest updates on public transport. Furthermore, Mr David Bonett from Deloitte explained the results for the Q1 and Mr Julian Diacono, Council Member described the Current Bookings Scenario. TOURISM ARRIVALS GUEST NIGHTS TOURIST EXPENDITURE +7.7% +5.8% 8.8+%

4 INTOUCH Page 3 The photos from (L): The Head Table, The audience, Steve Ellul, BOV, Dr Mario Pace, UoM, Konrad Pule, Malta Public Transport, David Bonett, Deloitte, Julian Diacono, Council Member and Tony Zahra, President, MHRA. MONITORING COMMITTEE: DIALOGUE TOURISM Recently, Ms Fiona Sayan from the Ministry for Tourism and Mr Andrew Agius Muscat, CEO MHRA on the invitation from the MOT, attended the Monitoring Committee Dialogue Tourism that was held in Morocco. Several proposals to an action plan amongst participating countries were discussed and agreed upon. The various participants committed to contribute to specific proposals. Malta was committed to contributing towards Proposal 3 and Proposal 6 hereunder: Proposal 3 : Création d un prix Méditerranéen récompensant les meilleures pratiques, (Creation of a Mediterranean award for best practices) where it was discussed that such an award had to have specific criteria, and could be an award for vocational training or an award for a company that excelled in the field of vocational training. The focus should be on human resources. The Maltese delegaton explained that the Maltese government had joined up with the private sector to set up a Mediterranean Tourism Foundation to promote the region, and that Malta had already embarked on the idea of awarding best practices at high level, to recognize the effort that operators do in motivating their human resources. It was further explained that the Malta Hotels & Restaurants Association (MHRA) had already introduced such an award during the last Mediterrean Tourism Forum that was held in Malta in November In fact, Prof David Abulafia, professor of Mediterreanean History at Cambridge University and Fellow of the British Academy and Alfred Pisani, founder and Chairman of the Corinthia Group were presented with the Mediterranean Award. The former in recognition for his best-selling book The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean and latter for his outstanding contribution to tourism and the Maltese economy. Proposal 6 : Développement d un processus d évaluation et de reconnaissance de la qualité des services hôteliers et touristiques (Development of a process of evaluation and recognition of quality hotel and tourism services) It was discussed that the EU zone quality criteria could be a basis for this process and that the Union for the Mediterranean could also be of assistance. During the meeting, the Maltese delegation informed the meeting the MHRA was an active member in the Hotel Stars Union (HSU) that provides a harmonised hotel classification with common criteria and procedures in the participating countries and enhances the reputation and quality of the hotel industry in the participating countries by creating transparency and security for the guests and thereby encouraging hotel marketing. Given Malta s experience in this sector, it could contribute extensively towards achieving this goal.

5 INTOUCH Page 4 TRAINING SEMINAR BY THE MALTA ASSOCIATION OF HOSPITALITY EXECUTIVES (MAHE) ECONOMIC STIMULUS THROUGH GREENER EU HOTEL INDUSTRY The Malta Business Bureau(MBB) report titled 'The potential for energy and water savings within the EU through flow rate regulation and greywater treatment' was presented by the MBB, the MHRA and the Malta Chamber at Dar L-Ewropa in Valletta, and also launched in partner countries Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland and Slovenia.

6 INTOUCH Page 5 Welcoming the report, EU Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Mr. Karmenu Vella said that water stress was a growing factor in many countries in the EU, and an area where there are clear and easy technological wins. The promising results in this study wouldl feed into future Commission work. Ing. Joseph Restall, MHRA Environmental Committee Chair commented on the benefits by stating that reducing operating costs for the EU's hospitality industry by 1.4 billion Euros per annum would increase its profitability as well as competitiveness on a global level. This would significantly strengthen an industry which is one of Europe's key employers and economic drivers. The savings could be achieved through the industry-wide adoption of flow rate regulation on showers and wash-hand basins (1), and greywater treatment (2). Commercially viable flow rate regulation and greywater treatment equipment are widely available within the EU. However, while 45% of surveyed hotels have already adopted flow rate regulation, the measures taken have not achieved their full savings potential. Greywater treatment has only been adopted by 1% of hotels. Malta Chamber Environmental Committee Chair David Xuereb indicated that Increasing the take up of both of these measures would necessitate increasing the capacity of suppliers within the EU. For greywater treatment, in particular, this would involve developing a fledgling industry. This would create green jobs within all Member States, increase research and innovation, and also create an industry with strong potential for exportation of goods and services outside of the EU. Furthermore, both measures would result in water savings of over 365 trillion liters of water. Flow rate regulation would have the added advantage of reducing the energy required to heat water, resulting in around 1.8 million tons of CO2 emissions reduction. The report followed previous assessments by the MBB's award winning EU LIFE+ Investing in Water Project. As part of that project, a key measure which could facilitate wider adoption of these measures was identified to be the better uptake of the EU Ecolabel for water consuming appliances such as taps, showers and urinals, and the creation of a standard for 2 nd class water. The MBB, together with its international partners, wouldl seek a common position from industry on these two policy measures, as well as common initiatives which would help drive a wider adoption of flow rate regulation and greywater treatment. Commenting on the MBB's commitment to facilitating this transition, MBB CEO Joe Tanti stated that such a drive could merge green job creation, the financial strengthening of one of Europe s large industries, and the creation of a new industry with strong potential for export. This would stimulate increased growth within the European economy while saving water, reducing CO2 emissions and energy dependence. It would be an excellent case study in environmental measures making excellent business sense. The study collected data for 5.5 million guest nights, by 247 hotels in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia. The report was prepared by the Malta Business Bureau, authored by MBB CEO Joe Tanti, water expert Ing. Marco Cremona and Geoffrey Saliba MBB Sustainable Development Manager. It was compiled with the support of HOTREC, in partnership with the Irish Hotels Federation, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, HORECA Flanders, Association of Hotels and Restaurants Czech Republic, Hungarian Association of Hotels and Restaurants, Tourism and Hospitality Chamber of Slovenia, and was co-financed by the HSBC Water.

7 INTOUCH Page 6 In the meantime, the MBB s EU Life+ Investing in Water Project was only one of 17 LIFE environment projects that were awarded LIFE best projects for The award ceremony took place at the EGG Conference Centre in Brussels, as part of the European Commission s Green Week HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY TO DEVELOP NEW OBJECTIVES FOR EUROPEAN LATE-NIGHT ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR HOTREC (the umbrella Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Cafes in Europe) together with its Members Silb-Fipe (Italy), FEHR (Spain), UMIH (France), HORECA Vlaanderen (Belgium); KHN (The Netherlands) and SYNHORCAT (France) developed, at a workshop held in Rome on 16 June, a new strategy for the European late night entertainment, a key segment of the tourism sector, including a set of key objectives. Participants expressed their views about the challenges and opportunities faced today by the late night entertainment, a sector composed of a vast majority of micro enterprises that is heavily regulated and that is currently facing new trends linked to increased digitalisation of the tourism value chain. Antonio Flamini, Chair of the HOTREC Task Force on late night entertainment said that Late night entertainment is a highly important segment for other parts of the hospitality industry as many tourists also choose today a destination depending on the variety and quality of night life. He concluded that it was important that public authorities remembered that the sector was a strong contributor to the EU economy and supported its development for the benefit of tourism. As a first step to implement this new strategy, HOTREC and its Members will develop a common European definition of the kind of establishments that compose this sector in order to extract specific economic and statistical data on it. Projects on quality night, copyright issues, fighting against shadow hospitality and safety and security of establishments are the key objectives and projects set during the workshop. Late night entertainment is a net contributor to the European economy, an economic driver for cities and a sector that provides with lots of jobs to all kind of workers. The sector is part of the European culture and model of society as it offers leisure and quality entertainment while guaranteeing a secured environment for customers. Compliance with heavy regulations comes at a high cost to the employer and raises in many occasions the price of the service offered, but guarantees, on the other hand, a highly secured and quality service said Christian de Barrin, CEO of HOTREC. For this reason, we call on public authorities at all levels to recognise the added value of the sector to the European economy and society concluded Mr. de Barrin. Together with defining the future strategy for the sector, a round table of best practices by national associations was also organized. At this session, HOTREC associations presented best practices developed in their countries in relation to alcohol policy, digitalization issues, closing times of establishments and others that show the commitment of employers to provide with a highly quality and secured environment. The new strategy for the late night entertainment sector will be presented and further developed at the 71 st HOTREC General Assembly in The Hague on 5 and 6 November 2015.

8 INTOUCH Page 7 MESSAGE BY UNWTO ON THE OCCASION OF THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2015 Mr Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary General stated that more than one billion tourists travel across international borders each year, many of whom are inspired to see our planet s natural wonders from majestic landscapes and pristine coastlines, to the rich biodiversity of our lands and our seas. As one of tourism s greatest assets, our natural heritage enlivens the global tourism sector, providing a source of livelihood and inclusive development for millions of people worldwide. Yet our natural resources and biodiversity face unprecedented environmental challenges. Unrestrained consumption and production over the past decades have directly impacted our natural environment, placing fragile ecosystems, endangered species and natural habitats at risk, often times with irreversible consequences. Looming over all of these challenges is the global threat of climate change. On the occasion of World Environment Day 2015, we are reminded of our immense responsibility to protect our environment in light of the choices we make. One billion tourists are one billion opportunities for accelerating the shift. Though small actions may seem inconsequential, just imagine the widespread impact of one responsible action multiplied one billion times. One billion tourists can indeed become one billion global stewards one united, global force protecting the future of our planet and all people. Protecting our environment is a responsibility we all share. The more we travel the world, the more we become aware of our planet s inexhaustible wonder, calling us to do our part in preserving our common heritage. On World Environment Day, I would like to join the international community and invite all tourists to make their actions count while travelling. Together we can shoulder the great responsibility of consuming with care. SURVEY ON EX POST EVALUATION OF COHESION POLICY DELIVERY SYSTEM KPMG, in collaboration with Prognos, have been engaged by the European Commission to conduct an Ex post evaluation of Cohesion Policy , with a focus on the delivery system. By 'delivery system' we mean every aspect related to the planning, management, payment and controlling of ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund. The main goal is to learn from the experiences gained in the period in order to improve the delivery system in the future. In this respect, we are distributing a link to an online survey with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the views of those who were dealing with EU funds either by managing/controlling funds; receiving funds; supporting others in filling in applications; or conducting evaluations.

9 INTOUCH Page 8 You are encouraged to participate and help KPMG evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of 'delivery systems' supporting the implementation of Cohesion Policy in all EU Member States during the period. This survey has been divided the delivery system into several elements, from programming to evaluation. You can give your feedback on all of these topics, or only on some of them. Please click on the link below to access the survey.

10 INTOUCH Page 9 SPONSORS SPONSORS SPONSORS

11 INTOUCH Page 10 COMPILED BY: CHARLES XUEREB EXECUTIVE SECRETARY /4 SILVER SPONSORS BRONZE SPONSORS We re on the Web! Visit us at: Find us on Facebook: pages/malta-hotels- and-restaurants- Association/