The Valletta Guide book has been launched by the Minister for Tourism Dr. Zammit Lewis. This great initiative emerged from a group of six young people with intellectual disabilities, who, with the guidance of educators from Equal Partners Foundation, started the research, writing and editing process.
‘The result is impressive. It is an easy-to-read and visually coded guide book of our capital city. This makes it accessible to individuals with learning difficulties and can be used by young children and even students studying English as a foreign language’, the Minister Dr. Edward Zammit Lewis said while pointing out that the EFL sector is an important niche within our tourism industry, attracting around 80,000 visitors each year.
‘In an increasingly competitive tourism environment, the ability to diversify is extremely important. Niche tourism refers to how the country’s tourism product can be tailored, developed and structured in a way to meet the needs and interests of particular groups of people’, reiterated Dr. Edward Zammit Lewis
‘The development of specific tailored products at a destination is often seen to be a way of attracting more tourists. This will assist in extending the tourism season and improving tourism spread throughout the year, thus generating new income streams for the economy’, the Minister for Tourism explained.
‘The historical, religious, cultural calendar that the Maltese Islands offer is impressive and extends across the seasons. Perhaps the next step in this area should be a more applied approach that allows visitors to enhance their experience and be more participative rather than spectators in these events, in line with international tourism trends. What we can be sure of is there are always opportunities to develop new ideas and respond to the needs of travellers.’
Dr. Edward Zammit Lewis thanked all the organisers for taking the initiative to launch the new Valletta Guidebook as this helps in advancing the tourism industry and make Malta and Gozo the place where people want to be.
