Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) President Tony Zahra said the news of Malta’s airport and ports reopening was “greeted with a big sigh of relief”.

“We were looking to open 15^th of June, but 1^st July is not a disaster,” he said when asked to react to Prime Minister Robert Abela’s announcement that Malta’s ports and airport would reopen on Wednesday 1^st July.  “Tourism is the lifeline for our business,” he added.

Asked to comment on the Prime Minister’s speech on Sunday, when he said that COVID-19 is “behind us” and it is now time for people to start spending again, Mr Zahra said:

“We are not politicians, we are businessmen and we are about tourism and hospitality. We hope that the Prime Minister is right, and people will feel confident to go out, spend money and enjoy themselves.”

When asked to respond to the controversy stirred after images of people crowded in front of a DJ stand at a Sliema seaside bar surfaced, Mr Zahra said he did not follow but stressed that the rules should continue to be enforced and obeyed.

Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia Portelli on Sunday announced that Malta would open up flights to 19 countries, while an unofficial list of those countries has been published by the Times of Malta:

Iceland, Slovakia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Israel, Norway, Switzerland, Estonia, Denmark, Hungary, Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, Czech Republic, Finland, and Ireland.