MTA leading by example

As Mr Julian Sammut rightly states (The Sunday Times, June 22), in 2001 the Malta Tourism Authority took the initiative and organised a seminar on "Gastronomy and the Maltese tourism industry". The objective of the seminar was to raise awareness of and to stimulate discussion on the importance of a quality gastronomic offer for Malta.

Among the issues raised during the seminar was the need to have some kind of gastronomic event on the islands. This idea was taken up by the MTA itself, hence the creation of the Mediterranean Food Festival, which saw its second edition last March.

Although the regional (Mediterranean) dimension is an important facet of this event, the festival is also a showcase for a wide variety of authentic Maltese produce and traditional specialities. This year's edition focused specifically on raising awareness of traditional recipes among tourists and locals alike.

The Authority intends to introduce the concept of special labels within its classification exercise for catering establishments, specifically to facilitate the promotion of Maltese speciality restaurants as an important aspect of the Maltese tourism offer.

Although the MTA does follow up on seminars such as the one described above with concrete initiatives of its own, we would like to clarify that the MTA's role is primarily that of acting as catalyst for the improvement of the product offered by the destination. We expect that private interests also take the initiative to develop ideas generated at such fora, as indeed many have done since the 2001 seminar.

Finally, should Mr Sammut have any proposals which he would like to put forward to the MTA, we would be glad to hear him out, preferably in the more conventional setting of a meeting at our offices.

Editor's note: Julian Sammut forms part of Fuklar, a non-profit- making association committed to the promotion of Maltese food culture.