Tourism: Moving forward sustainably

“This budget clearly looks into relaunching our tourism industry in a more sustainable and competitive manner. A national strategy in tourism which will take us to the next 10 years.”

The Government led by Prime Minister Robert Abela has presented its strongest budget yet in seven years. Despite a global pandemic, Budget 2021 is a comprehensive and thorough exercise in continuing where previous budgets left off. It ensures that Malta flies out of the starting blocks when the post-pandemic period kicks in. Budget 2021 continues to take care of those sectors hit by the pandemic, with the tourism industry being one of those hit hard.

Budget 2021 is the strongest ever for the country, including in tourism. Next year’s budget will see the strongest vote ever in tourism, a total of €95 million, €10 million more than last year.

Operators in the industry are among those that will continue to benefit from the wage supplement scheme up till at least March 2021, in a €200 million investment. At the same time, another round of €100 vouchers will be handed out to consumers to invest in local businesses, €60 of which are to be spent in accommodation and restaurants and the rest to be spent in retail outlets.

At the same time, the Tourism Ministry has also been given its largest ever budget, to help with promoting our country as the destination to visit in the postpandemic period. Speaking about the pandemic, I look at this watershed moment as an opportunity to start afresh with clear targets and clear milestones.

This budget clearly looks into relaunching our tourism industry in a more sustainable and competitive manner. A national strategy in tourism which will take us to the next 10 years. It will not only ensure a healthy recovery of a sector worth almost a third of the entire economy, but also a strategy which will enable the industry to move towards a net zero carbon neutral future which is environmentally friendly. Businesses and operators will be incentivised to invest on digitalisation, leading to a transition from a numbersbased industry to quality tourism.

In a more tangible way, businesses will be encouraged to generate energy from cleaner or renewable sources, while at the same time we shall continue renovating and regenerating tourism zones and improving our tourism product. Parallel to this work, and in the immediate term, work will be undertaken through a number of measures and incentives to stimulate growth in the conferences sector.

A renewed tourism industry is essential in returning our country to the strongest economic success we enjoyed up to a few months ago.

Tourism contributed extensively in reaching these sound financial levels. There is no doubt that the Government has been able to deliver this budget without levying a single cent from new taxes thanks to our healthy coffers. Many thought that this would not be possible. We managed, because we have a hardworking workforce, which brought with it seven years of growth and sound public and financial administration.

Tax refunds will be given once more, up to a maximum of €95, while next year workers can enjoy an additional day off. Pensioners aged 70 can now benefit from free public transport whilst enjoying a further rise in pensions by €5 a week. The first-time buyers’ scheme has been extended and widened, with the property value eligible for a reduced tax being extended from €175,000 to €200,000. Many, many more measures for every sector and industry are also included.

This is why the Maltese people chose and will continue to choose the Labour Party. It managed to grow the economy to unprecedented heights, while at the same time building a war chest for a rainy day. That rainy day hit us big-time in 2020, but while other countries saw wages fall and unemployment rise, the Government put that war chest to good use to ensure that workers kept their jobs and that businesses continued running. In this difficult period, Budget 2021 is a shot in the arm for families and businesses and is aimed at not only maintaining confidence but to look forward to a period where the uncertainty is over and prosperity reigns once again.