The President of the Gozo Business Chamber Joseph Borg, accompanied by the CEO of the Chamber Daniel Borg met with a delegation from the Ministry for Tourism and Consumer Protection to discuss the Digital Strategic Roadmap for Tourism in the Maltese Islands 2030.
In its feedback and recommendations the Chamber highlighted that :
- The need for the industry to make a comeback after COVID-19 should see a greater focus on digitalisation;
- Courses offering a hands on approach on digital marketing should be formulated in such a way as to also target micro operators in the tourism segment, given also the prevalence in Gozo of these type of operators especially in the self-catering accommodation, B&B and boutique hotels sectors;
- These courses however should be accompanied by schemes to support operators to actual procure professional services to market themselves abroad in order to strengthen the foreign inbound tourism market in the coming years;
- A regional approach involving the Institute of Tourism Studies in Gozo, and other business associations on the island, should be used to deploy the actions emanating from the Digital Strategic Road Map in Gozo;
- Gozo lends itself well to test new technologies on the island prior to these being deployed on a national level. The Chamber highlighted that through its Presidency of INSULEUR it has always highlighted the importance of digitalisation to bridge the gap created by the difficulties faced by islands such as Gozo.
- The Digital Strategic Roadmap should take into consideration the involvement of the voluntary sector. In Gozo there is the potential to further develop the cultural sector as a specific tourism niche in collaboration with the voluntary sector, by assisting the sector to market its activities also to a foreign audience.
