Welcome to the World of FATTA - Malta !!
FATTA is a registered non-profit employers’ association set-up to promote, service and represent the interests of the Travel & Tourism Industry.
The major role of FATTA is to keep a close and constant watch on developments in the field of travel and tourism in general, giving advice to Government on legislative, commercial and related matters and intervening in the interest of its members and the nation whenever necessary.
At National level FATTA plays an active role; via its representation on the Malta Tourism Authority Board, and through continuous dialogue with the Government and the Opposition.
At European level, FATTA is a full active member of ECTAA – Group Of National Travel Agents’ & Tour Operators’ Associations within the EU.
On the International scene FATTA is a member of UFTAA – the United Federation of Travel & Tourism Agents.
Originally known as ATA, this Association was set in January 1967 and was composed of four sections namely;
IATA Agents Section
Non-IATA Agents Section
Handling Agents Section and
G.S.A. Section.
The same sections were upgraded to Associations in their own right who in turn federated into FATTA in March 1996.
This allowed strength in unity and at the same time gives a measure of autonomy to each Association.
The story of the Association of Travel Agents in Malta A.T.A.-M; as written by Terence Mirabelli (Editor) in the
book " 25 Years on but who’s counting?"
(Only a few copies of this historic reference book are still available. If you wish to order a copy, please contact the Secretariat.)
This is an outline of the book.
Introduction
It would be fair to say that the powers-that-be in Malta began to lay the foundations of, what we now call, our tourism industry, back in the
mid-1960s. There are a number of very good reasons why the timing is significant, but the most compelling influences were the prevailing
economic climate in the Maltese islands, and that more and more people in northern Europe were beginning to take their holidays abroad.
To examine the first point a little closer, for more than one hundred and sixty years the Maltese economy had been sustained by the presence
of a large number of British troops and their dependents. This comprised the British garrison, which remained in Malta throughout colonial
rule and for some years afterwards.
However, once Malta obtained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, it was only a matter of time before this staple source
of national income would cease altogether. This is not the place for a detailed examination of the change-over process, which spurred the
Maltese economy to develop other means of generating and sustaining growth. In retrospect, however, the protective umbrella provided by
the United Kingdom (both in the economic and in the military sense) probably held back the development of industries and services not
directly related to the British presence on the islands.
Conversely, it would be inaccurate to blame the low level of outgoing tourism at the time on the British ‘umbrella’. Other factors, some
economic, others due more to tradition and habit, were responsible. When the first group of pioneering travel agents got together to
form the Malta Association of Travel Agents back in 1967, few Maltese travelled abroad. Only the wealthy, business-men and patients
needing medical care abroad took holidays or travelled over-seas.
Foreign travel was well beyond the means of the average wage earner. Certainly at this time there existed few possibilities for boosting
one’s income with a part-time job. Disposable income was simply not available for most people to spend on foreign travel.
Also, the only paid holidays that most Maltese received were the public holidays. So, anyone wishing to take an extended vacation
had to be able to do so on unpaid leave.
Thus for most people in Malta their idea of a holiday ‘abroad’ was a day trip to Gozo or Comino. Similarly, with mass incoming tourism
Until the late 1960s the Maltese islands were not even on the map. In fact, any revenue from tourism was linked to the British services.
Tourist figures received a seasonal boost from visiting children, relatives and friends of service families. There is no question that, during this
period, even a slight increase in arrivals would have posed economic problems, as Malta was simply not geared to cope with the influx.
There were few hotels of any sort until the mid- to late-1960s. Even fewer beach facilities, water sports centres, cafes or restaurants.
There was also little night life. In fact, there prevailed at the time a distinct lack of inclination to present Malta as a tourist playground. In the
late 1950s and early 1960s other resorts in the Mediterranean were already becoming established as major tourist centres.
The Costa Brava, the Costa del Sol, Majorca, the Algarve and, of course, the French and Italian rivieras. It is surely no accident that the
development of these areas went hand-in-hand with an increase in spending power and leisure time among the inhabitants of northern Europe.
Ordinary folk from Germany, Britain and Scandinavia, eager for a couple of weeks in a resort providing sun and fun and at a price they were
able to afford, travelled to the Spanish costas.
Apart from the fact that we in Malta were uncharacteristically slow to see the bandwagon, let alone jump on it, we were not helped
by the popular conception of the islands in the minds of the majority of potential tourists. As far as they were concerned, Malta was
a fortress, rather grim and forbidding - Churchill’s unsinkable aircraft carrier. In short, they would be as likely to choose Malta for a
holiday as they would, say, Devil’s Island. So, not only did the majority of Mediterranean resorts have a head start on us, we also
had to build a complete tourism infrastructure, almost from scratch. We had to create a new image of the islands to dispel the popularly
held misconception of a fortified piece of rock, which just happens to be in the middle of the Mediterranean.
Undoubtedly the major selling points were and are our climate, our history and our culture. Guaranteed sunshine for at least five months
of the year is a very big plus in our favour, and one to be exploited to the full. As far as history is concerned, few countries anywhere in
the world can boast a civilisation as rich and colourful as that which has evolved during the course of six thousand years or so.
It is to the credit of the governments of the time, the Malta Government Tourist Board and later teh National Tourism Organisation of Malta
(NTOM) (now the Malta Tourism Authority) and, of course, the Association of Travel Agents that Malta is to-day one of the major players in
European and, indeed, world tourism.
Today incoming tourism accounts for seventy per cent of travel agents’ business. But let us not forget that the remaining thirty per cent, which
represents outgoing tourism, is also a tremendous advance. More and more Maltese and Gozitans travel abroad than ever before. The two
essential factors that triggered the increase of incoming tourism - spending power and more leisure time - have enabled us to travel more
often and further afield. Thus incoming ad out-going tourism is enjoying an unprecedented boom. In the following pages we shall be looking
back over the past twenty-five years since the Association of Travel Agents - Malta, was founded as the Malta Association of Travel Agents.
We will find that the progress registered by the association during this period, almost exactly mirrors the development of the tourism industry
in the Maltese islands.
Further to the Introduction in the book "25 Years on, but who’s counting"?
A Message from the ex-Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Hon. Dr. Michael Refalo on the occasion of their 25th Anniversary of ATA
complimented ATA and reads as follows:-
( 2006 update - Having later served for many years as Minister for Tourism Dr Michael Refalo today is the Maltese High Commissioner
to the UK.
Message from the ex-Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism - Hon. Dr Micahel Refalo
The Association of Travel Agents has most praise worthily taken upon itself the task of compiling and publishing a record of its history from
its foundation to the present day - a span covering twenty-five years. This record highlights the activities, vicissitudes, achievements as well
as the problems that ATA has undertaken and had to cope with over this period. It provides the reader with a year to year catalogue which
evokes memories and traces the evolution and development of ATA to what it is and stands for today. I cannot but not applaud
ATA’s initiative and trust that other tourism sector associations and groupings will also actively consider delving into their archives and
recording their own story for their members and for posterity.
I have personally known ATA since its foundation as I had then acted as legal adviser to the constituent assembly, and I find its most gratifying
that the associations has since become one of the industry’s leaders. ATA speaks for and is a mentor to its members as the association
represents travel agents’ interests on all national boards in the tourism sector.
I extend my most sincere congratulations to ATA’s Council and all the association’s members for a job well done. Furthermore to the above
is a foreword from the President of The Association of Travel Agents - Malta (ATA-M)
(Update 2006 - Mr. Joseph Borg Olivier, who later served as President for F.A.T.T.A. .Mr. Borg Olivier retired from his post as President in 2005
after 23 years of service he dedicated to the Association and the development of the Travel & Tourism industry in Malta. He is now the
Honorary President of FATTA)
President’s foreword on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of ATA-Malta
Joseph Borg Olivier
The Association of Travel Agents - Malta owes its existence to the pioneers who made ATA happen and gave it substance, and to all the hardworking
individuals without whose constant commitment the association would not have survived.
The story told in the book published ends in 1992, a slightly longer period than twenty-five years. Since 1992 was the year ATA celebrated its
silver jubilee - a year of celebrations and activities - it was deemed fit to include this ‘extra’, year in the book. Although the book is merely a
chronological record of events, it is neither a dull nor a dismal story unlikely to arouse and maintain interest. The story has no end, it offers a general
account of affairs and problems - some of which still await solution.
For the reader with a voracious appetite for information on how the Maltese tourism industry, both incoming and outgoing, has grown over the
years, this book will definitely satisfy such yearnings. At the end the reader will want to keep the book for future reference.
This book will, I am sure, find a place not only on local bookshelves but in all the corners of the globe; in repositories such as universities
institutions, colleges, schools, homes, government departments and other private enterprises that inter-relate with the tourism industry -
the industry that grows and flourishes with peace, stability and freedom of movement; the industry that brings people together, the industry
that gives hope to the future of the civilised world.
This is its story as it goes on...