You probably saw the news that tourists coming to Malta this summer can get up to €200 vouchers to use for food and beverages in hotels around the island. You might also be upset that people living on Malta are not allowed to participate.
But we have good news somehow. First of all the terms and conditions were never super attractive for people living here as you need to spend a minimum of three nights. And looking at the current offers some hotels shared this week, you even need to spend 5 nights or more to get the voucher. And you need to book it directly with the hotel even a lot of travel agencies around the world offer much better prices.
But there is more. We checked the popular Hilton hotel in St. Julians when their offer popped up today. To qualify for the government voucher of €400 you need to spend 5 nights there. And you need to book your room using a special promo code.
And what a surprise: If you book 5 nights for example from June 6 to 11 using the special code or website, you pay €227 per night. If you don’t use the code and book on the Hilton website, the rates start from €159 per night. You can save €340 for 5 nights, if you don’t use the special promo which is nearly as much as the voucher value. And you are only allowed to use the voucher in the pricy restaurants and bars in the hotel.
Price with government voucher:
Best available rate:
One thing needs to be added here. The cheapest rate doesn’t include breakfast as long as you don’t have a gold status or higher in the Hilton Honars Rewards program which automatically comes with some credit cards though. In that case it is fair to compare the best rate with breakfast to the promo which you can book from €191.
So you still save €180 for 5 nights compared to the rate which includes the €400 voucher. The rule for the voucher is by the way that the hotel doubles the amount the government pays. So if a tourist gets €400, the government will pay €200 and the hotel adds another €200.
That means in our example for the Hilton hotel, that the tourists pay half of their own vouchers. The government will pay the other half. And the hotel just benefits. So no need to be upset that you are not allowed to participate. And please don’t recommend hotels following this example to others.