Ian Borg calls for more investment in quality tourism during Noru Hotel visit

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Ian Borg, underscored the importance of the ongoing shift to quality during a visit to the Noru Hotel Malta, a luxury four-star hotel in St Julian’s.

Dr Borg met with the management and staff, led by Managing Director Massimo Ellul, as they marked the hotel’s first anniversary and welcomed its 15,000th guest this week. The 15,000th guest was a Northern Irish couple visiting Malta for the first time.

The couple was introduced to the Deputy Prime Minister, and Dr Ellul informed them that they were being invited as hotel guests next year, underwritten by the company, as well as being given a number of complimentary Dee Spas vouchers to enhance their stay in the hotel.

The 83-room hotel, which opened last year, features state-of-the-art facilities, including indoor and outdoor pools, a whole floor dedicated to spa and wellness, plus two catering venues. The management is now working to continue augmenting service quality.

During this visit, the Noru management shared their mission to internationalise their brand with the Deputy Prime Minister. Plans are currently underway for a second Noru hotel in Ispica, Sicily. Dr Ellul showed the Minister several visuals pertaining to this initiative, which was very well received by the Deputy Prime Minister, who pledged his support should it be needed.

Dr Borg commended the hotel’s strategy of focusing on quality to attract discerning travellers. He explained that, in line with the Malta Tourism Strategy 2030 and the Malta Vision 2050, the Government is supporting the industry in its path towards higher value-added services, targeting tourists with higher per capita expenditure.

Through an ongoing collaboration with industry stakeholders, the Ministry and the Malta Tourism Authority are also constantly improving standards and policies covering the whole spectrum of collective and non-collective tourism accommodation.

Deputy Prime Minister Borg noted that the Authority continues to focus on enforcement and quality assurance, with regular inspections and investigations into complaints received from visitors and the public. The Authority conducted approximately 7,000 inspections across various accommodation establishments in 2024.