Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) CEO George Schembri yesterday confirmed with this newspaper that hotel bookings for August have significantly improved over the last days, with “many hotels now being fully booked throughout the first three weeks of August.”
Schembri had last Sunday week spoken to sister paper MaltaToday to relay the concerns of MHRA members over a significant slump in bookings for August this year. As it stood in the second week of July, hotels were estimating 50 per cent less in their books for August, when compared to the same period last year.
However, tourism Minister Mario de Marco, a number of hoteliers, and Schembri himself had said they were hoping for a last minute change – as tourism trends around the world show a sudden shift towards late bookings.
“The situation has definitely improved up until 17 August,” Schembri said. “Quite a few hotels are fully booked. The last two weeks of August are of concern, but things are changing overnight. The situation is very fluid.”
Meanwhile, rumours were spreading over a sudden influx of tourists to Malta after they were originally bound to Spain but changed plans in view of recent terrorist bombings in Burgos.
But Schembri said it is very difficult to relate the incident to incoming bookings, “although activities of this kind do tend to shy away tourists from destinations, especially nowadays when everyone books at the last minute,” making it very easy for travellers to change plans.
“But to confirm whether Malta has actually benefited from the situation is very difficult, because we do not know what guests’ previous plans would have been. It would have been easier before, when tour operators would keep hotels informed over cancellation trends, but people are now coming in through the internet.”
