Malta as a yachting centre : an assessment

Abstract

This study has attempted to examine whether further development of new yachting facilities in Malta is necessary. I approached the subject from a marketing perspective and did not go into any details of whether it is best to choose one site rather than another and the environmental impacts of such decisions, since such an analysis is another dissertation on its own. In Chapter 2, I have analysed the current situation of the yachting industry in Malta, and listed our main internal strengths and weaknesses. This chapter also deals with the proposed developments as submitted by the relevant developers. Chapter 3 examines the Mediterranean yachting industry. I have studied the market position and product offered of each destination or cruising area in the Mediterranean waters and the future trends and developments within the region. Thus one can understand better the environment in which Malta is operating and what role Malta has, and can play in the future. In Chapter 4, I conducted a comparative study between Malta and Port El Kantaoui in Tunisia. The choice of Port El Kantaoui was induced by the fact that as in the case of Malta, it is situated in a non-EU country in the central Mediterranean region. Tunisia is also a country which developed yachting facilities in the past ten years, and is currently further investing in this field. The scope of such a study is to see how the marinas and services in the two countries compare, whether they are competing in the same markets, and to look how one country's developments and performance, in yachting, can influence the other and how. Chapter 5 is a self-assessment of the yachting industry in Malta based on the analyses carried out in the previous chapters. My considerations of whether we are heading in the right direction regarding future developments in yachting facilities are based on all the research and interviews which I carried out with persons involved in the field.