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Gerald Fenech
With an average age of 27 years for 2 and 3 star hotels in Malta and only 7 per cent of the current bed stock having been developed over the past 5 years, this sector is crying out for re-assessment and re-evaluation to face today’s constantly changing market realities.
These stark results come out from a report commissioned by the MTA and prepared by tourism consultant, George Micallef, a copy of which is in Business Today’s possession.
Further results show the alarming state of the majority of the properties in the 2 and 3 star categories. The report states that the frequency of refurbishment amongst this category of hotels is parse whilst some have not even carried out any refurbishment at all since their first year of operation.
To add to these rather stark findings, further analysis shows that one in every three of interviewed hotels aged ten years and over carried out just one refurbishment since their first year of operation whilst the remaining 67 per cent refurbish on average every ten years.
Furthermore, it appears that the situation is getting worse as when compared to a similar survey conducted 7 years ago, the results have deteriorated even further according to the report.
A more detailed analysis of the facilities offered in these hotel categories continue to paint a bleak picture. The report states that while hotels in this sector generally do provide facilities, the overall condition is not good with only just over half of the hotels surveyed and inspected having a well maintained exterior. Around half of the restaurant and bar facilities inspected were also officially rated from average to bad whilst over 40 per cent of the bathrooms inspected in these properties were rated as poor.
Still, notwithstanding these poor conditions and a product perception that seems to be constantly deteriorating as the number of dissatisfied guests continues to increase, a surprisingly large number of 2 and 3 star hotel owners have a very positive sentiment towards their product with 75 percent of those interviewed planning to refurbish hotel rooms and facilities and 83 per cent planning to invest further in their product.
As regards outlook for the future, whilst only 4.2 per cent have a very positive outlook, a respectable 41.7 percent retain a positive view to the future with another sizeable chunk of 37.5 per cent having a stable outlook. In fact only 16.7 per cent of the hotels surveyed had a negative outlook to the future with none retaining a very negative viewpoint.
Further sections of this report will be serialized in future editions of Business Today |
