Malta is the best-prepared country in Europe for taking British tourists’ money, according to tourism minister Julia Farrugia Portelli.
Farrugia made the statement this morning during an interview with Sky News journalist Kay Burley, following a similar interview with the BBC yesterday.
“Basically we are very prepared as a country for taking all the money of the British tourists who will soon be visiting our lovely island,” Farrugia Portelli said.
“Even though the UK has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Europe, this does not mean that your money is sick. On the contrary, your money is healthy, and as a country we would very much like to have it,” she added.
The minister explained what measures were being put in place to gather as much money as possible.
“Basically at Malta International Airport passport control, there will be large buckets into which British tourists will be able to place all their cash – shiny Pound sterling or sparkly euros – which will then be disinfected and kept in a safe place.
“Also, basically our scientists have developed contactless card-readers that can process payments from a distance of 10 metres in 0.02 seconds. All a nice beautiful, intelligent British tourist needs to do is take their card our their wallet, and the money will be instantly taken from it.”
Asked by Burley what would happen if a British tourist fell ill and was unable to spend money, Farrugia Portelli replied:
“Basically should this happen, every hotel has protocols in place, whereby people wearing protective suits will grab the infected tourist, turn them upside down and shake them in the hope that some precious coins will fall our of their pocketses.”
As in the BBC interview, Farrugia Portelli was also pressed on whether Maltese lives were being put at risk by allowing British tourists into the country.
“Basically, at the end of the day, really and truly, Maltese people are not that important. You, the Great British tourists, are important. Ejja my friend, come to Malta, have fun time. We give you good price.”
During the interview, Farrugia Portelli also broke the Guinness World Record for number of ‘erms’ said in a three-minute time span.
