Bring back the old Malta

I am writing this having just returned from two weeks on your island. Having been there many times before, my wife and I were looking forward to this visit. During our stay we had time to reflect on how Malta had changed since our last visit, three years earlier. Our opinion is "bring back the old Malta".

Having read The Times during our stay, I feel compelled to write regarding some of the letters and articles we read.

Most peoples' holidays to Malta start with a flight and like my fellow Burtonian, Peter Wisner (July 24), ours was with Air Malta. Unlike Mr Wisner we flew from Germany, our new country of residence, but we still experienced the same service. Having not eaten at the airport, having flown with Air Malta many times before, we expected the usual in-flight quality. We were very disappointed, being given cold salami and ham, with a not so fresh roll, which neither my wife nor I ate. Thus, not giving us a great start to the holiday.

What about Malta itself. Have the words "Please" and "Thank you" been taken out of the Maltese vocabulary? In shops all you get now is an abrupt greeting of "Next" or "Yes", with no "Please" on the end. I have to agree with the article Facing The Long, Hot Summer (July 26). What indeed has happened to the old Maltese hospitality, the smile on the faces of the restaurant staff, the courtesy of shop assistants? This has all been replaced with a scowl and abrupt attitude which we had never seen before in the Maltese people.

I would also like to comment on the article by the chairman of the Hotel and Catering International Management Association Malta, Julian Zarb (July 28). I agree with a lot of what Mr Zarb had to say, particularly in regards to training of catering staff and the fact that Malta and Gozo cannot host the same vast numbers of tourists who visit destinations such as Spain and Greece.

I can understand Malta's need to bring in more tourism, but at what cost? People do not go to Ibiza or Rhodes for the culture, the people, or the history. They go for the nightclubs and the party and drinking culture that has taken over these islands. As Mr Zarb says, Malta needs to offer something different. Yes it brings in money but, yet again, at what cost? Malta stands to lose its identity. Islands like Rhodes, which itself has a lot of culture and history to offer tourists, are better known these days for their nightlife. These types of islands are now known as "party islands".

What will happen to the history that has made Malta great if this fun pub and nightclub culture grows bigger? I know this may seem like a knee jerk reaction to a few fun pubs but I used to visit the Spanish islands before they became what they are today and I saw the change that took away their identity. That is when I discovered Malta.

Another article that caught my attention was from Alternattiva Demokratika (July 26). They talk about the fact that sun beds and umbrellas cover the best parts of beaches. Why is this allowed? You arrive in the morning and they have covered the complete beach, cramming you in like sardines. Most people pay the expensive rates because they cannot get close to the water's edge. These rates would have cost us an extra Lm56 if we had gone to the beach every day. I am not sure how families with children afford to do this every day. If people need sun beds they can ask for them. These can then be put up where they are required. This gives holiday makers a choice. Novel idea.

Small bits of the old Malta do still exist. These are found in places like the band clubs, where you can still find drinks at good prices and a smile from the staff and locals. Also restaurants like Bobbyland at Dingli Cliffs, frequented by locals and, yet again, service with a smile and a "Thank you". This is the Malta we have come to know and love. The Malta that is now being overtaken and pushed out by the fun pub culture.

Even one of the last bastions on Maltese holidaying, Mellieha, the town we come back to time and time again, has now succumbed to fun pubs. These establishments, while making good money, mainly because of the higher prices, are turning the country into a mirror image of Ibiza and Rhodes. Is this really what the Maltese people want for their island? People used to come to Malta because it isn't like the other Mediterranean islands.

If Malta wants to get more visitors to its shores, it needs to make some changes, social as well as cosmetic. Attitudes need to change, get back to the values that made Malta a tourist destination in the first place, service and hospitality. Clean up the island. I know money has been spent on some of the tourist areas and promenades, but move away from that and parts are looking dirty and run down.

Finally, something definitely needs to be done about the roads; they make the surface of the moon look as flat as a snooker table. Taking a bus ride is like stepping onto a roller coaster at a theme park, but without safety straps.

Malta needs to make some choices. Carry on the way it is going and lose the holiday makers like my wife and me, who are only in our late 30s. If we wanted a nightclub type holiday we would head to the previously mentioned islands, Malta is an alternative to that type of holiday, please help keep it this way.

Our love of the people, the hospitality and the island of Malta has been seriously dented after this holiday. Will we return again? We are not sure. If we do, it will not be for a while.