Gozo tourist establishments report decreased business but better business in Q1

The Gozo Tourism Association has recently conducted and concluded its regular survey among its members, coming from the following sectors: hotels and other collective accommodation, self-catering accommodation establishments, restaurants, diving, transport services, tourist attractions as well as DMCs and tour operators and travel agencies.

Questions were related to the Gozitan tourist establishments’ performance during the winter period January to April in the aforementioned categories.

During the first four months of 2017, 45% of respondents stated that the performance of their establishment was less when compared to the same period of 2016, while 27% qualified their business performance on the same level of last year. Another 27% declared that their performance during the first four months of 2017 were better than the same period of last year.

When asked to state what the majority of their clientele was, during the January-April period, 7% of the respondents stated that their clients were Gozitans, while 49% answered that they hosted mostly Maltese. On the other hand 44% confirmed that the majority of their clients was foreign tourists.

Another survey question was related to the business revenue generated during January to April, when compared to same period of 2016 – 30% of respondents declared that their revenue was better than 2016 while 27% stated that their revenue was on the same level of last year. However, 43% of the establishments who participated in the survey, reported better revenue than 2016.

The GTA members were asked to assess their profitability during January to April – 26% stated that their profitability has increased on the 2016 period, while 28% answered that their profits were on the same level of last year. However, 46% of the establishments declared that their profits were less than those achieved in 2016.

A trendy question in this survey was related to the labour force within the Gozitan tourism establishments. A majority of 54% stated that lack of employees is effecting negatively their business, 22% of respondents stated that although it is a problem to find employees, this issue is not affecting their business so much. However, 20% stated that they have a stable work force, and this is not causing a problem for their business operation.

When asked what type of vacancies they need to fill, a substantial amount of respondents (38%) stated that they are looking for cleaners and maids. While 24% are in need of service staff, followed by 16% who are looking for kitchen staff. The remaining respondents answered that they have vacancies for front office/customer care, maintenance and sales persons.

Another sector covered by this survey was connected with the performance of the domestic market during the period January to April. This market has become generally known as a good sustainer of the Gozitan tourism sector and is thus welcomed by all operators.

This year’s first four months have resulted in an improved performance for 29% of respondents while nearly half of the survey participants (46%), declared that the performance of the domestic market in their establishment remained the same as last year. The domestic market performance was classified as decreased on 2016 by 24% of respondents.

In this survey the Gozitan tourism establishments were also asked to rate their predictions for this summer – 36% are expecting an increase in business, while a high percentage (41%) are envisaging that their business performance will remain in the region of last year’s summer. However, 23% are anticipating a decrease in their business when compared with that of 2016.

While thanking its members for their encouraging participation in the survey, the GTA confirms its intention of holding such surveys on a regular basis in order to get periodical snapshots of prevailing trends within the Gozitan tourism scenario.