International tourism conference held in Gozo

The Gozo Tourism Association and the Malta Tourism Authority, in collaboration with the Ministry for Tourism, organised the first International Tourism Conference on Gozo entitled, “The Image and Sustainability of Island Tourist Destinations”. This conference, which was held at the Grand Hotel, was part of an EU co-financed project under the Rural Development programme, for Malta 2007-2013.

The conference was opened by Gozo Minister Anton Refalo, after an introduction by Joe Muscat, CEO of the Gozo Tourism Association. Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Tourism Authority Paul Bugeja delivered the keynote speech. During this conference, several foreign guest speakers tackled various subjects in relation to tourism on Island destinations. Juan Gaul de Torella, outgoing President of the Majorca Chamber of Commerce, gave his island’s experiences on tourism growth and development, while the Polish Strategy and Change consultant Pawel Tyka delivered a presentation on change. Mammed Bagher, Senior Teaching Fellow at the Napier University in Edin- burgh Scotland then treated leadership in tourist destinations.

The afternoon session was opened by the Minister for Tourism, Edward Zammit Lewis, who was followed by Italian Journalist and Blogger, Federica Brunini, who gave a presentation on marketing tourist destinations through blogging. The subject of a Sustainable touristic future on Islands was treated by Dr Rita Cannas from the University of Cagliari. The last guest foreign speaker was Justin Reid from Trip Advisor - Head Destination Management Organisations for Europe, Middle East and Africa, who gave an overview of Gozo’s performance on Trip Advisor.

The conference was brought to an end by the concluding remarks of Paul Scicluna, Chairman of the Gozo Tourism Association. This conference was attended by Gozitan tourism operators, officials from the Ministry for Tourism, the Ministry for Gozo and the Malta Tourism Authority, as well as other officials from several financial institutions on Gozo and other guests.