Diving and the MTA

A recent article in The Times, entitled Dive Tourism Going Down, quoted Mark Busuttil as saying that "this (diving) is a niche - this is what the MTA is now calling it, not having done anything to sustain it".

Mr Busuttil's comment, though probably made off-the-cuff and prompted by his passion for underwater diving and our marine environment, is unfair and incorrect. We owe it to tourism stakeholders and the tax-payer in general to set the record straight in this regard.

The Malta Tourism Authority has always considered the diving segment, which last year attracted an estimated 55,000 visitors, an important part of Malta's tourism offer, an effective contributor to the national economy and a source of tourism repeat business.

Over the past 10 years, the MTA, and before it the NTOM, has worked, within the parameters of its remit, to support the development of diving as a tourism niche market. On the product front, the authority has taken a number of initiatives aimed at improving access to and providing information at dive sites.

The MTA recently formulated new regulations in relation to the diving sector, which have been praised by the sector as reducing much of the bureaucracy it used to complain about before. The Professional Diving Schools Association (PDSA), which represents local diving operations, was regularly consulted throughout the relevant process.

These regulations have cleared the way for the evaluation of pending applications for dive centres. They have also enabled the MTA's enforcement directorate to initiate legal action against unlicensed diving operations. As a result, various websites promoting unlicensed centres have been pulled off the market and a number of unlicensed centres have been closed as a result of legal action, enforcement notices or warnings.

No fewer than six enforcement officers, close to half of the directorate's complement, implement inspection programmes of the diving industry in Malta, Gozo and Comino, not only to weed out unlicensed operations but also to monitor the licensed operations insofar as the new standards are concerned.

The PDSA and the MTA's enforcement directorate regularly exchange information that leads to the identification of unlicensed operations, upon which the authority takes immediate action.

The diving segment also forms an integral part of the authority's marketing plan. Apart from the promotional material which refers specifically to diving, and which is available in various languages, the MTA's destination website, www.visitmalta.com, devotes considerable importance to diving as a motivation for visiting the islands.

Various press visits by overseas media are organised throughout the year, both by specialised magazines aimed at the diving specialists, as well as by the mainstream media. Assistance is given to authors of dive guidebooks, while TV teams are brought over to do features on diving in Malta. The authority participates in the London Dive Show and, occasionally, in shows in other markets. The MTA also supports dive centres participating in these events.

The MTA shares the concern of the diving industry with regard to the need to protect the quality of the islands' marine environment and the protection of dive sites in particular especially where these are threatened by commercial activity.

The authority agrees that there is a need for marine parks and, whilst the establishment of these parks does not fall within the MTA's remit, it would certainly be willing to consider assisting and contributing towards the setting up of such parks. Consequently, the MTA supports Emy Farrugia's idea of the setting up of a foundation.

We hope that the above information serves to give readers a clearer and more objective picture of the MTA's current and potential role in the development of this important tourism sector.

Mr Vella is chief executive officer of the Malta Tourism Authority.