MaltaToday previous editions

maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 6 AuguSt 2014 News 4 Travel and tourism operators yesterday thanked Josef Formosa Gauci, outgoing CeO at the Malta Tourism authority (MTa), "for his sterling contribution to the indus- try during his tenure." The Federated association of Travel & Tourism agents (FaTTa) stressed that under Formosa Gau- ci's direction, the MTa succeeded in delivering five record years, in- cluding the last four consecutive ones when competitor destinations in Southern europe such as Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus ex- perienced declines or struggled to maintain their numbers. FaTTa also called on the govern- ment to recommend to the MTa board a possible successor in the shortest time possible. "Such a successor must have a strong background and experience of the industry as well as the con- fidence of stakeholders," FaTTa said. Moreover, the association re- newed its call for the MTa to fill the senior management posts that remain vacant since March, in- cluding the International Market- ing Director, the Director South- ern europe, the Head eU affairs & Policy Development, the Segment Head for MICe (Meetings, Incen- tives Conferences & events), the Segment Head for Sports Tourism and others. "FaTTa augurs that these va- cancies are filled promptly and with capable people who enjoy the confidence of the industry to en- able the MTa to continue working smoothly with the stakeholders to successfully face the challenges of maintaining and consolidating Malta's market share and to devel- op forward looking strategies for the medium and long term." last week, tourism minister ed- ward Zammit lewis played down reports that Formosa Gauci hand- ed in his resignation due to a poor working relationship with the au- thority's chairman - and labour candidate in last year's general election - Gavin Gulia. Formosa Gauci, who has been in the role for the past six years and promoted under the previous gov- ernment administration, handed in his resignation last week, with the relationship between himself and Gulia believed to be a factor. "He informed me of his decision to step down citing the fact that he had been in the role for six years and felt he needed a change," Zam- mit lewis said. "The relationship between him and Gulia became public knowl- edge through the media but I am sure that this was not the reason for his resignation." Formosa Gauci himself reiterated this stance when speaking to this newspaper and said that he would stay on to ensure a smooth transi- tion. "It's a situation where I've held the post for six years – during which time we've done our best to get the good results which we have," he said. "You then get to the stage where you take stock of the situa- tion and you decide that you've done something for a period of time, it's now time to say let me try and see if other things can develop." "I showed (the minister) my pro- fessionalism – I am not going to get up and leave – I want to ensure sure that for, the good of the industry, there is a smooth transition." Formosa Gauci grew unsettled in his post over the past months and it was no secret that his relationship with Gulia was far from rosy. In January, former tourism min- ister Karmenu vella defended For- mosa Gauci when reports in the media accused him of pocketing €23,000 in allowances since 2008, on top of his €66,000 salary and for not availing himself of a chauffeur- driven car provided by the State. The newspaper claimed Formosa Gauci was not driving his personal car but sill using a government ve- hicle. But vella defended Formosa Gau- ci publicly, saying the CeO was us- ing a car belonging to the MTa's car pool which is even shared by the minister's himself and said that Formosa Gauci had not abused state allowances. James Debono SPeaKInG at a news conference on Monday Turkish energy Minis- ter Taner Yildiz said Turkey would not work alongside Israel on energy while attacks are taking place in Gaza. Taner Yildiz was addressing the news conference following a meet- ing with Maltese Minister Konrad Mizzi. Italian news agency ansa reported energy Minister Mizzi saying that "the international community and Malta felt sympathy with Gaza". He also said Palestine's energy shortage had been discussed by eu- ropean Union energy ministers last month. Speaking at the news conference in ankara on Monday, Yildiz ex- cluded the development of a natural gas pipeline between Israel and eu- rope, via Turkey. He said: "an energy project's eco- nomic feasibility is also important as its political feasibility and now, if we build a natural gas pipeline be- tween Israel and Turkey, innocent children's blood would flow from this pipeline." Israel has been working on sev- eral different alternatives in order to transport and commercialise its newly discovered gas reserves. Tur- key would have been an alternative route for Israel to transport gas to europe and several different loca- tions in the world, however, the re- lations between the two countries have deteriorated since the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010. leviathan, discovered in 2010 and located on Israel's Mediterranean coast, is the world's largest offshore gas discovery in the past decade and it is expected to provide the country with greater energy independence. In September 2013 the State Oil Company of the azerbaijan republic (SOCar), one of the shareholders of the new power station in Delimara, proposed construction of a gas pipe- line from Israel to Turkey under the sea. The initiative was offered to Turkey by Matthew Bryza, US ex-ambassa- dor to azerbaijan and currently a high-ranking SOCar official. During a visit to Israel by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in October 2013 Malta discussed cooperation with Israel in the energy, water con- servation and health sectors. operators urge government to 'act swiftly' to replace outgoing mTa chief Turkey excludes gas pipeline with Israel in meeting with Konrad Mizzi turkish Minister taner Yildiz excludes energy cooperation with Israel during a meeting in which his Maltese counterpart, Konrad Mizzi, was reported expressing "sympathy" for gaza MTA outgoing CEO Josef Formosa Gauci Konrad Mizzi (right) met his Turkish counterpart, Taner Yildiz

• Cover