‘Noticeable decrease in overall guest expenditure’ observed during Santa Marija week, MHRA says

Kyle Patrick Camilleri

This year’s Santa Marija feast period saw mirrored tourism performance trends when compared to last year, “though with a noticeable decrease in overall guest expenditure,” the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) told The Malta Independent.

The MHRA, contacted by this newsroom, said that it compiled general feedback through calls with several of its members on how hotels and restaurants in Gozo performed during the Santa Marija week.

MHRA’s telephone surveys indicate that occupancy levels “varied significantly” prior to the Santa Marija weekend – while smaller hotels reported medium-to-low occupancy, “larger properties performed relatively better.” During the Santa Maria weekend itself, occupancy across establishments was strong, with many hotels reaching over 85-90% occupancy and some even fully booked, it said.

The MHRA shared that restaurants observed “very similar” footfall to last year, “however, spending patterns were notably lower.” Reportedly, more customers are opting to order just a main course when dining outside, rather than having a starter before their main dish.

Restaurants also told the MHRA that “beer consumption seems to be replacing wine.” Restaurateurs believe that this may reflect more cautious expenditure from their patrons.

With this year’s Santa Marija feast falling on a Friday, the period was more fruitful towards the Gozitan economy than other years when this feast fell mid-week, according to the CEO of the Gozo Tourism Association (GTA), Joe Muscat. He said that having fallen on a Friday, visitors’ average length of stay in Gozo was longer than other years, which meant more time for them to visit Gozitan businesses and establishments.

According to GTA CEO Muscat, there are 10,000 beds in rented accommodation in the island of Gozo today and thousands more that go unaccounted from Maltese who own Gozitan property as second property or as a vacation house.

He told this newsroom that Santa Marija week this year was positive. GTA CEO Joe Muscat said that in the Association’s point of view, the week met the Gozitan tourism industry’s expectations for this time of year.

Muscat said that August is typically the Gozo’s most popular month amongst tourists. He added that this year’s economically fruitful period can be attributed to the many foreign tourists and Maltese tourists that visited Gozo over the Santa Marija long weekend. Muscat noted that this feast brings with it this cultural mix to Gozo and helps the Gozitan economy keep going round.

He concluded that Gozo has become synonymous with this August feast and that seeing the mix of cultures and diversity on the island during this annual period is an attraction in itself for visitors.