Hunting abuses harming the tourism industry

The problem with illegal hunting had reached "epidemic" proportions and was one of the factors dealing a blow to Malta's most important industry - tourism, Malta Tourism Authority chairman John Grech said yesterday.

Speaking at a news conference to launch the MTA strategic plan, covering the years 2002 and 2004, Dr Grech called for more effective enforcement to halt the nationwide abuse which was taking its toll on the tourism product.

He said the authority had been inundated with complaints from tourists and organisations expressing outrage over the domestic hunting situation.

"Hunting exists everywhere, but it's the abuse and the behaviour of certain hunters which is damaging tourism."

The MTA chairman also criticised the location of fish farms and tuna pens, which he said were too close to beaches, as well as widespread littering on such a small island.

However, he said enforcement was often in the hands of government or other authorities.

"I believe the MTA has always delivered when it was responsible for enforcement."

Dr Grech also announced that representatives from Frosch Touristik are to arrive in Malta in the first week of July to hold discussions with the MTA in an attempt to boost arrivals from Germany.

Dr Grech said it was the MTA's intention to work more closely with Frosch Touristik and that the meeting would help to coordinate a three-year plan with the German company.

In December, 2000, FTI had slashed the number of tourists it sends to Malta substantially during the peak months.

Just last month, FTI shot down suggestions that it had pulled out of Malta altogether and insisted that it still offered the largest flight capacities to Malta in the German market.

Dr Grech admitted that Malta had still not recovered from the September 11 backlash, though it was performing better in comparison to competitors like Spain and Cyprus.

He said that the MTA's massive advertising campaign after the terrorist attacks had paid off in more ways than one.

Dr Grech said the MTA's mission and objectives as laid out in the original strategic plan still stood. The original plan was orientated towards building the MTA on solid foundations.

Since then, Dr Grech explained, Malta had redefined its product from purely a sun and sea destination to one which revolves around heritage and culture.

The new strategic plan makes reference to a number of challenges, including the plan to spread arrivals more evenly throughout the year, without piling on any more tourism during the summer months.

He said that the MTA website had done wonders to entice tourists to the island. Some 80,000 people were logging on to the MTA website every month, and the numbers were expected to increase as it was translated into more languages.