Tourism challenges

Once again we come back to our favourite subject - tourism; not just a subject, more of a very essential agenda for our island.

I agree fully with your editorial though it stops short on what the government can actually do to improve certain situations. There is no need for the cap and gown brigade to ruffle their feathers. Most of what Maltese tourism needs is sheer common sense and a keen attention to detail. You tend to go to visit somewhere in Malta and you always seem to have a nagging doubt if it is going to be perfect because you know that somebody has missed something out. We should be more confident and positive about what we are doing.

Take festas in Malta. They are organised mainly by ordinary people in a village who all offer whatever services they can provide, usually for free, and, consequently, from the heart. Age and gender, brain and brawn, rich and poor all amalgamate together and, amazingly, they provide three glorious days for the fellow villagers and the tourists. Have you ever heard a tourist rubbish a village festa? Never. But why? It is free for the tourist and, yet, the locals have had a marvellous time as well. These are things Malta has got to build on. Think about what we do best and try to build on it and elevate it to a tourist attraction.

My idea of the Maltese has always been that we are little people with big knowledge and when we come to do things which we mostly like we do them to perfection. So why do the powers that be not make a study of what the Maltese themselves can provide and that is truly Maltese, rather than emulate somebody else?

I have often thought, for example, that each wedding should be asked to provide about 20 invitations to foreign people who would like to attend such a ritual. Obviously, this has to be done by selling tickets as we sell for a tour and, of course, making sure that the bride and groom get their cut as well. These are events that people love because it forms part of the local culture and they are meeting the people and, let's face it, once they meet the Maltese it reads like a love story and that is when tourists keep coming back to visit.

What the government needs to do is look after the obvious places, the roads, the rubbish, the walls, encourage the Maltese to decorate their balconies with flowers like some of them do already, look after the cosmetics and then, if we like what we see, we would definitely strive to encouraging these nice people, who are really our bread and butter, to come back and to bring others back with them.

It is not true that tourists are staying nearer home. Europeans are not that far from home if they visit Malta and I am sure that they consider it as a safe destination anyway. But we have to make it easier for them to get there by providing cheaper flights, adequate accommodation (not five-star) and let us all make an individual effort to personally look out to do something for a tourist - like help out if they are lost, keep an eye on them when they are handling our money to make sure some of our get-rich-quick brothers do not give us a bad name and, finally, get some adequate means of transport which all our tourists can trust. I was told recently that taking a bus in Malta is like playing the lottery. You have a 50-to-one chance of getting a smooth running one with a nice driver attached to it. This also goes to the taxis that seem to have a free-for-all attitude when it comes to charging fares. Government control is most essential here.

We must still try and accommodate people who simply come to have a relaxing time on a clean beach, be looked after by a good homely hotel and to have somewhere to go to entertain themselves in the evening. Bars are not everybody's means of passing the time and there should be shows or entertainment that would be appreciated by them. Last summer I felt shock and horror when I learnt that the fabulous Sound of Music held at the Manoel Theatre was ending on the night we had seen it. Two shows at the weekend throughout the season would have been a wonderful opportunity for the tourists not only to enjoy themselves but also for us to show off our local talents.

This whole concept indeed needs a lot of people to get together to fathom out what we can all put into it.

Television should play a big part, directly or otherwise.

It is an uphill slog but if we all pull together it will be easy to get to the top and be able to survey the success that we have achieved.