Promising Gozo

Dr Refalo is Minister for Gozo

As statistics clearly attest, we have certainly come a long way and accomplished so much in relatively little time to boost international tourism arrivals as well as augment domestic tourism – all key economic contributors to our island.

Last year, Gozo was visited by more than one million visitors, equating to an increase of 7.8 per cent over 2014 and a growth of 26 per cent on 2012 numbers. Total nights spent by international and domestic tourists in Gozo during 2015 also surpassed the one million mark, an increase of 14.3 per cent on the statistic registered in 2014 and an increase of 26.4 per cent when compared to 2012. Furthermore, we experienced doubledigit growth last winter too as, for the first quarter of this year, nights spent in collective accommodation increased by 19 per cent when compared to the first quarter of 2015.

Gozo is also fully benefitting from the Cruise-liner’s sector success so far. Last year resulted in the best performance registered for Gozo in this niche with 18 port calls and the total number of cruise passengers that visited Gozo in 2015 amounted to more than 9,800 passengers from only 700 passengers last year and nearly four times the statistic registered in 2012.

Clearly, 2015 was yet another record breaking year for tourism in Gozo and the current statistics and performance trends remain positive and very optimistic for this year too and beyond.

Our strategic objective from the outset was clear, namely to convey Gozo’s image in the increasingly changing and very dynamic media landscape and to further engage potential travellers according to their specific travel interests. We have not promised the world In the 2003 referendum campaign, the Labour Party had vehemently objected to EU membership. They fought it on the basis of petty nationalistic sentiment without a real understanding of the concept of shared sovereignty which the EU offered. And today we are proud that our ministers sit on the decision-making table with the rest of their European counterparts. Labour fought the European Union on the wrongful interpretation of the EU’s willingness to assist in our economic modernisation. They assumed that Malta would only get one and half million euros, when in fact we got no less than 2,500 million euros under various schemes – millions of euros from the EU which we invested, and are still investing, in education, employment and tourism, among others.

Luckily enough, the majority did to travellers, we promised Gozo and what it stands for.

This has been done through targeted marketing actions, mainly consolidating the Gozo brand and integrating the message across media; Developing social media campaigns, mobile presence and the ‘visitgozo’ digital platform to ensure reach and relevance; developing rich content about Gozo, particularly about segments that are coherent with promoting the island sustainably including culture and heritage and adventure travel; conducting well planned campaigns on new media which are balanced, complementary and integrated.

Aware that half of holiday bookings are now effected online, we have also invested heavily in digital promotion. Globally, it is estimated that mobile data traffic will grow 10-fold between 2014 and 2019. Rich online content and mobile video will account for 72 per cent of total mobile data traffic by the latter year. We constantly and closely monitor such market trends, which are also very dynamic, and consequently develop content that helps drive traffic to the ‘visitgozo’ site and social media platforms in line with our stated overall objective of increasing destination awareness.

Every year we conduct at least two extensive campaigns with strong booking portals such as Tripadvisor and Tavelzoo to mention just a couple, generating new content about the island and launching the best targeted offers that are researched online by the booking portals themselves. Therefore, for example, a scuba diver in a Nordic country who may not know about Gozo but is searching online for holidays to practise this sport or hobby will, with a very high degree of probability, be the recipient of a targeted advert and a call to action about not fall for Labour’s scaremongering about us being small fry in the EU or, as Labour used to argue, whitebait among whales. The majority of the Maltese did not fall for the ‘Sicilians taking our jobs’ remark and they were proven right, as we have had near full employment in times of international crisis as well as in present times of international prosperity. The majority of the Maltese chose cooperation against isolation which Labour’s counterproposal of partnership and ‘Switzerland in the Mediterranean’ ultimately meant. Had the majority fallen for it, we would have all paid the price for Labour’s lack of foresight. Gozo’s prime diving sites and why this haven is ideal for the planned, whether solo or family or any other format, type of holiday.

This same design rationale has also been rolled out for other segments: we generate specific, high interest content and we target, with the objective of engaging potential travellers, their travel interest that is captured online through their decision-making process over days, weeks or even months.

In a very crowded world of holiday destinations, where all compete to be different, Gozo’s challenge is to stand out with its unique and very distinct attributes and I am very pleased to note that, also as the various statistics described earlier attest, we are achieving the desired results as we continue to work relentlessly, proactively and creatively on this front.

In parallel with all our initiatives, we are constantly in listening mode in order to effectively analyse what the island actually stands for from the point of view of our visitors. We consistently engage stakeholders and tourists alike as well as visitors who came to our shores and actually made Gozo their home.

Therefore, what does the island stand for, in the visitor’s mind? The common denominators are ‘simplicity and ‘authenticity’ – Gozo has that real feel of a destination that warms the soul, a place of comfort and relaxation to which one can easily relate. Hence, the ensuing campaign themed ‘Gozo, Simplicity is the Luxury’, promotes the island with strong images, across key competitor destinations and potential source markets, with the objective of making emotional connections, while raising destination awareness.

We are determined to strengthen this strategy, and the ensuing tactics, in the coming years. We will continuously capture stakeholders’ viewpoints and collaborate closely with the Ministry for Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority, the Gozo Tourism Association and other operators and stakeholders, to promote Gozo effectively at all levels. Marketing works not just at the promotional level of communicating the destination, but more importantly by promoting the product to new levels of higher quality and service as is also embedded in the National Tourism Policy 2015-2010 which includes specific policies for Gozo aligned with the strategic objective of treating Gozo as a distinct destination.

That is precisely why we have been working hard towards this strategy and the results are starting to show around the island, foremost among which the restored and magnificent Cittadella that has been given new life with great and invaluable value added for the locals and tourists to enjoy. I also need to point out the other major investment initiatives in Gozo, such as the new hospital and the international medical school investment, following the agreement with Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, which will surely create another new major quality niche – that of Medical Tourism with all the other important benefits this brings about due to the major improvement of medical and other facilities and related infrastructure to the creation of further jobs in Gozo.

We will continue to promise Gozo as it is with its key attributes and simplicity. This small island differs with its call to innate emotions, its great hospitality and rugged beauty. These are promises that Gozo can and will keep.