Winston J. Zahra, CEO of the UK-based hotel chain GG Hospitality believes how the slump in demand as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak will mean more establishments are able to provide for tourists requiring to be quarantined.

Mr Zahra was asked to comment in view of his life-long experience in the hospitality industry, one of the worst-hit as a result of the Coronavirus.

He remarked that these are unprecedented times. Given “the massive drop in demand and the amount of empty hotel rooms”, he said a hotel would more than likely have rooms available to accommodate any tourists who would wish to extend their stay because of the 14-day quarantine.

“It’s a sad reality and I only hope that it does not get prolonged for more reasons than one,” he admitted.

Tony Zahra, President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association said: “My understanding is that everyone has dozens of rooms available and we are counting occupancy in single digits for most of the hotels.”

The crisis, he added, is very fast developing and changes in government directives are coming very fast.

Incoming tourists must spend 14 days in mandatory quarantine. Travellers staying for less than 14 days must observe mandatory self-quarantine for the entire duration of their stay.

Mr Zahra specified that tourists are not obliged to stay in Malta for 14 days from arrival as they can leave whenever they want. “In fact, I know of quite a few who arrived on Thursday and left on Friday after the quarantine order was issued. Consequently, it’s left to the individual concerned to decide what to do,” he explained.

Speaking at the BOV Deloitte Q4 Tourism Performance Survey last week, Raphael Aloisio, Deloitte’s Leader Financial Advisory, noted that although tourism increased significantly over the last years, COVID-19 will have a significant impact on both the sector’s volumes and profits.

The National Statistics Office said an estimated 150,131 tourist visited Malta in January, an increase of 17.5 per cent when compared to the corresponding month in 2019. The UK and Italy remained the most popular markets, with a joint share of 36.6 per cent of the total inbound tourists.