Raphael Aloisio, Financial Advisory Leader at Deloitte, believes it is still way too early to objectively make any form of reliable predictions on job figures and economic damage stemming from COVID-19, even though the recently issued guidelines and proposed easing of restrictions have given a sense of direction.

“We must acknowledge that we are only at the very beginning of what I fear is going to be an extremely challenging and rocky journey in our attempt to try and find the new sustainable economic norm.

“Operators in the local hospitality and retail sectors have been rocked to their roots and their sustainable business model has been pulled from under their feet,” he said.

The decisions taken by the authorities, Mr Aloisio continued, were made to safeguard the health and safety of the broader population and it would be extremely inequitable if the stakeholders and employees of the impacted sectors are not supported by the Government and the broader community.

He admitted he failed to see how operators can realistically be expected to rebuild a self-sufficient model overnight and said the affected sectors must continue to benefit from Government financial support and assistance throughout the recovery period.

The support, Mr Aloisio explained, should be provided as part of a formal economic recovery plan, which is backed by all stakeholders and a well-mapped out phased ‘re-entry’ plan should be formulated.

In this regard, he feared that, unless hotel operators are able to achieve certain minimum occupancy levels, they will inevitably face a real risk of losing more money being open, rather than closed.

Unfortunately, he pointed out, this is already being witnessed in the retail sector, where a number of operators are already seriously considering a reversal of their decision to reopen their stores.

“I would dare say that most of the heavily impacted sectors are in the same situation and will require ongoing support, albeit at a decreasing scale, even past March 2021,” Mr Aloisio asserted.

Yet, not many details were forthcoming from the Tourism Minister, when approached by The Malta Business Observer with these concerns.

Instead, Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli said the Ministry was “analysing the situation in various countries on a daily basis, together with our health authorities. Malta has engaged in active discussions even on a European level. In my intervention during a recent EU tourism ministers’ meeting, I insisted on a common-wide approach on safe protocols on a European level,” she asserted.

This is an extract of an article which appeared in the May edition of The Malta Business Observer