“These are extremely challenging times because the cake is much, much smaller even if some hotels remain closed,” says Julian Diacono, Commercial Director at Hilton Malta.

In an interview for the July edition of The Malta Business Observer, Mr Diacono asserts, “Thanks to the stimulus of the summer bookings, we will have some business in summer but the prospects for winter are very, very bleak.”

The conference business market, which keeps hotels, venues, destination management companies, restaurants, transportation, and guides, among others, going in the winter months has been almost totally wiped out, he added.

Unless there is unprecedented support by the Malta Tourism Authority and the Government to promote and incentivise this kind of business, many players in the industry risk not surviving the coming winter, Mr Diacono asserted.

Indeed, he described looking at the forward booking position for winter is “scary” with no group bookings in sight prior to the second quarter of 2021.

Mr Diacono noted that, in an effort to address the situation, talks are in progress between the tourism authorities and all stakeholders to see what initiatives can be taken to attract some traffic to the islands during the coming winter months.

Adding to the uncertainty is last-minute booking patterns, where most hotel guests are making their bookings at the “very, very last minute”, said Mr Diacono, adding that summer business is “obviously” moving at a pace that cannot be compared to any normal year, and that business is mainly being sustained by tourists in Malta for a short holiday, rather than business travellers, for instance.

In sharp contrast, the Maltese domestic market was “way up” compared with previous years, he noted, expressing satisfaction at the response to the hotel’s offers from locals. And, one month after the reopening of Malta International Airport, after long weeks of travel restrictions, occupancy in July was picking up.

“It is expected to improve in August but September is still too far away to know,” he said, stressing that, nonetheless, occupancy levels are far below the norm, and room rates had to be cut drastically in a bid to attract business.

In this regard, he noted that, although air services have resumed, the number of flights being operated was much lower than before the pandemic hit. In addition, the flight schedule seems to be “erratic” as some flights were being cancelled because not enough seats were being filled. The hotel executive explained that this resulted in guests calling to cancel their reservations within days of confirmation

This is an extract of a feature first carried in the July edition of The Malta Business Observer