Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1120492
23.05.19 11 tourism numbers to double. Everyone seems to be getting into small hotels without any real experience or un- derstanding of the business, and they're probably over-paying for land and for the building, because contractors are very hard to fi nd at the moment. is will create a squeeze on pricing and ultimately it will be detrimental, because some businesses will end up closing down. I believe that having the right internation- al brands as well as a management team with the experience that we have, as well as the economies of scale will hold our ho- tel portfolio in good stead. ELG is known for introducing new concepts to Malta. What's the next thing we can expect from you? One of the big things we'll be investing in later this year is the refurbishment and upgrading of our cinema lobbies. We've always invested in the quality of the actual fi lm product – such as in digital projec- tion, sound, improving screens, light out- puts, changing the seats, and so on. But the lobby area has been one of the areas which we haven't put too much focus on, so we'll be investing signifi cantly later this year in upgrading, changing our bar area and signage… When it comes to our gym, Cynergy, two years ago we changed every single piece of equipment at a cost of €600,000. is had the result of more than doubling our members in two years. When you invest in your existing properties, there are im- mediate returns. We've also moved into the E-sports are- na, which was a steep learning curve, and was a new thing for Malta. We're looking at being one of the big E-sports event or- ganisers internationally, and the event we organised last year attracted over 9.2 mil- lion unique online viewers last December. is year we're planning on improving on that and making it larger still. Looking forward, virtual reality will become big. ere's a new E-sports plat- form, for instance, which utilises a kind of technology allowing the persons playing to actually walk and look sideways on a treadmill type fl ooring and so on. A lot of this can overlap into Cynergy and several other diff erent areas. So we're looking at virtual reality and seeing how to apply it from an entertainment point of view and from a business side. In the meantime, we're also consolidat- ing our existing businesses and building up our team. ere's a lot of focus on the employees with the business, which we're giving more importance to now. My role as a CEO is to ensure that our key team members are focusing and performing as effi ciently and eff ectively as they can, to provide shareholder value. e engage- ment of staff is critical to be able to do that, and this is a key part which we've been fo- cusing over the last couple of years. Is it hard to retain staff? All over the board there is a problem related to bringing in and retaining good people, and we're not immune to this however we have a great work environ- ment and our focus at the moment is to create a purpose for people to work for us that they buy into and I think it is trans- lating into higher retention and better re- cruitment opportunities. Moreover, we also have to compete with all the foreign businesses which have some advantages which we don't have. Malta has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. All other countries have been pushing it down, but local companies are competing at 35%, which is insane. No wonder there is such a large black market out there. If the tax rate were more rea- sonable, people would think twice about avoiding or evading tax. And I think we would be in a much better position as a country. Bay Radio remains one of Malta's most popular radio stations. But is radio dying out? Bay Radio typically has around 22 to 25% of the total market, which compares very favourably to the next radio stations. We're extremely strong with the younger market, including the very young market. But we're also the most popular up to the age of 50. We attribute that to having been around for 20 odd years, so people have grown up with us, they know the brand and know what to expect. We're very careful about the quality which we put in place, and invest heavily both technically and in the people manning the station. ere are two facets to the business – without good quality programming, you don't get the audiences, and without the audiences, you don't make sales. Is the medium dying out? I think typ- ical traditional FMs days are numbered as we move towards digital radio, but I don't know if it's in terms of single or dou- ble-digit years in Malta. Even digital radio will struggle with people streaming their music and news. It is up to us to ensure that our product is entertaining on a local front as well as providing music and news. When it comes to Eden Cinemas, how do you keep your business profitable in the face of ever- increasing competition from things such as online streaming services and do your cinemas offer which would make someone leave the comfort of their homes? I think the most important thing is the overall experience. You're getting out of the house, so there's a social aspect to it. While you can sit at home and watch a fi lm with your partner, if you go out, there's more of a social experience. e overall experience is extremely im- portant, and we believe it starts from when you park your car, to when you en- ter the cinema and later when you leave. People also want to be wowed when they enter the cinema building – which is something we're focusing on in our lobby refurbishment. We focus on good quality projection, comfortable seats, clean facilities and a level of policing to ensure that cinemago- ers can watch a fi lm without too much dis- turbance from others in the theatre. I know some people who don't go to the cinema because they can't stand people eating crisps or popcorn. Certain chains in the UK have popcorn-free screenings. In this context, we've introduced au- tism-friendly screenings, where the light isn't too dark and there won't be popcorn noise or sounds which are too loud. We're putting this in place to off er something to this community which has never been catered for. It's not a moneymaking thing, but a question of social responsibility. As I said, all of our business units are suc- cessful, and some people are surprised to hear this about the cinemas, because they expect it to be on a downward trend. ere has indeed been quite a steep downward trend from the beginning of the century, but the cinematic outing is still important for people when it comes to certain fi lms. Take last year's blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody – this brought in many, many people. But when it comes to a type of fi lm which they could watch at home in three months time, they might decide to wait in- stead of seeing it in the cinema. Can you give me one-word reaction to the following: Paceville Disaster. Joseph Muscat Business-friendly. Foreign workers Necessary. Competition Always. Family Positive. Regarding the business-friendly aspect of the government, this also has its draw- backs – whether it's sustainability, or the ability of Maltese businesses to compete adequately with foreign businesses. So you can be as business-friendly as you want to be, but there are ramifi cations which you have to deal with wit INTERVIEW entertainment seriously Simon De Cesare B.Sc MBA (USA) is also the President of the Malta Business Bureau and a member of the Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association Council. He obtained a BSc in Business Management from Bentley University in Boston and an MBA with a focus on Strategy from the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont University in California USA. He is 44 years old. We're looking at being one of the big E-sports event organisers internationally, and the event we organised last year attracted over 9.2 million unique online viewers last December. This year we're planning on improving on that and making it larger still