Capitan Findus is in high seas

Producer of Findus foods in the UK is in financial trouble putting 420 jobs at risk, Sky reports today.

This news was followed by announcements of job cuts in the Financial Times (80 jobs). Reports also show that as much as 15,000 jobs could be at risk in the world’s premiere financial services centre – the City of London. 

This is not only bad news for the UK, but for Malta as well. The UK is in fact Malta’s largest trading partner and Malta’s largest source destination for our tourism market. More unemployed means less money in the UK economy means less trade and less tourism for Malta.

Last minute travel is recession’s latest casualty

British travel companies are going to axe holiday packages on offer by as much as 20%, The Guardian reports today.

This has prompted the King’s Cross based newspaper to say that:

Last-minute deals will disappear over the next two years 

The newspaper also reports that British travellers are choosing long-haul destinations like Australia and New Zealand and medium-haul destinations as Egypt as countries in the Euro area, including Malta, become too expensive for them.

So, the article begs the question: Is it wise for Malta to continue investing in new routes and more marketing in the UK when our product is becoming more expensive among British tourists?

Video: A Thomas Cook advert released in February 2008. Everything was different just eleven months ago: Malta was registering double-digit growth in its tourism industry.