A holistic, long-term ‘Cruise Malta’ strategy
Our vision is a bold one – one which requires sustained action on several fronts to see Malta, Gozo (including Comino and the north of Malta) and The Three Cities become the main beneficiaries. It is a long-term strategy as cruise lines typically plan a minimum of two to three years ahead. 1. Create incentives for turnarounds and homeporting in Valletta This is a golden opportunity for Malta to make its mark with cruise itinerary planners. Homeporting has significant collateral economic benefits as it feeds the entire tourism ecosystem (airlines, airport, port, hotels, restaurants, transportation, shops, etc). Financial incentives, such as rebates on port and air passenger taxes could be an attractive proposition to some cruise principals. However, to increase the proportion of luxury lines, it must not be linked to volume and neither frequency. Luxury lines seek to avoid repeating the same itinerary and they appreciate having fast-track lanes, rapid transfers to hotel or ship, elegant check-in facilities and possibly also an exclusive berth away from the mega ships. There needs to be a sustained drive to attract homeporting as this brings with it bed nights for pre- and...