A unique jewel

I have become a regular visitor to Cottonera over the years, so my visit to the area by boat last Thursday, with tour operators and other stakeholders in the tourism industry, was not my first and definitely not my last encounter with this unique jewel.

It amazes me that a number of the persons who berthed with me from Sliema to visit Cottonera were in fact doing it for the first time. I am glad to hear that they are now equally convinced about what Cottonera has to offer, and that they will now become repeat visitors.

Hopefully, they will do much more than that. Many of them have the capability to include Cottonera more often on the tourist schedule of events on the visitors' itinerary.

They have, to my mind, a duty to do no less, since as I pointed out to the operators who joined the trip, a tourist's visit to Malta cannot be considered complete if it does not include Cottonera.

Some admitted that they used to confuse Cottonera with Cospicua prior to this event! One can only appreciate the value of our national product after one bothers to learn more about it in the first place.

We cannot appreciate the architectural or religious significance of our Megalithic temples, to give a different example, if we never visit the sites, or just limit our experience to a glimpse at the structures without trying to make a more profound assessment.

It is a general rule that applies to all our lives - only by understanding better the elements that surround us could we truly appreciate them, and have a more fulfilling and satisfying experience in the process.

Even for a frequent visitor, sailing into Cottonera was for me a highly enjoyable experience. Incidentally, I enjoy my visits to the area just as well whenever I visit on land, which is what I do most of the time! Sailing into the area, however, offers an enchanting perspective of its own. It is easier to fathom the line of fortifications around our Grand Harbour built by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, and to see how these fortifications link up with each other and offer a complete line of defence, which we deserve to be proud of.

Other countries make mountains of the most modest molehills - too often we tend, except when arguing over some petty and often enough unnecessary 'issue', to do the opposite, i.e. treat our mountains like molehills. We think that our historic jewels are only meant to be used as sheds, garages or pigsties!

Moving into Cottonera on a boat makes it easier to comprehend the peninsular characteristic of the area. How Vittoriosa and Senglea are like outstretched arms of a body, held together through Cospicua. How Vittoriosa and Kalkara compare to two sides of one coin. How the new marina has breathed life into the area, and how that will in the near future link up to the development of Dock no. 1.

How one can look up at Cospicua no longer hidden from the view of boaters, because the former unsightly wall has been replaced by a neatly designed fence.

The experience becomes complete once one berths and moves around the landmass. I believe that Cottonera is one whole living museum of history, culture and tradition.

The Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) ensured that the message came across to visitors last Thursday by staging various re-enactments that evoked the history associated with the different palaces and other architectural jewels.

A comment made to me the day after by the MTA Chairman bears repeating: "This is no Walt Disney experience. We do not need to resort to make believe, create fictional characters and make them popular.

"All we have to do here is recall what has actually happened, evoke the colour and pageantry associated with the area, and offer a taste of the rich cultural heritage that the place offers.

"The more we offer an authentic representation of the facts, the better. It is a unique jewel that may need occasional polishing to show off its brilliance and lustre, and it certainly deserves to be displayed better. It is a unique jewel that should be considered by one and all as a natural magnet for the tourism industry."

Over the past years, Cottonera has been undergoing a regeneration process. Government's policy was three pronged. The Cottonera Rehabilitation Project was entrusted with the rehabilitation and restoration of historical buildings, forts and fortifications.

Notre Dame Gate, St Helen's Gate, St Anne's Gate and Couvre Porte, various churches and historical buildings have been given a much-deserved face-lift.

Government also saw to the various projects that ensure the social dimension. Cospicua probably has Malta's best old people's home - that involved the total rehabilitation of an abandoned historical building.

Cottonera has one of the country's best sport complexes, and just outside Vittoriosa we provided a well laid out one-stop-shop for various social services brought together within one complex.

The third line of Government policy was ensuring that the commercial project along the Cottonera waterfront takes off. The rehabilitation of Caraffa Stores (recently used for the Caravaggio exhibition), and the Captain General of the Galleys' Palace provides two components of a wider project that should in the future include a hotel.

Work is at this stage proceeding in earnest on the Treasury Building that will offer valuable commercial space. The inauguration of the marina that displays some fine boats remains one of the most satisfying moments of my political career, and I look forward to the further expansion of that project.

Cottonera deserves no less. It is the cradle of local civilisation. Fort St Angelo was the foremost fortification in our Grand Harbour even predating the time of the Knights.

Vittoriosa was built around it and has become the gateway to our history. The nobility, merchants and artists resided there and built magnificent churches and palaces. The same happened in Senglea and Cospicua. Vittoriosa was the site originally chosen by the Knights as their seat of power.

I am grateful to the local councils for their valuable share in the regeneration of Cottonera. What applies to Cospicua, Vittoriosa and Senglea also applies to Kalkara.

I have always deemed it my privilege to have open channels of communication and utmost collaboration with the local councils in the area, and together we have been able to make leaps and bounds to ensure that Malta's unique jewel receives the level of attention and focus that it deserves.

On Thursday, the area Mayors gave extensive explanations about what Cottonera has to offer to the visiting tour operators. I would like to see ongoing networking between the area's local councils and the various stakeholders in the tourism industry, since it is through such synergies that the full potential of the area can be realised.

Without, if I may add a word of caution, repeating the mistakes that have been made in the traditional tourism zones.

The MTA has over the past years been very proactive in Cottonera. It has been involved in some of the restoration projects, such as the restoration of the façade of the Inquisitor's Palace, and began organising BirguFest that re-enacts episodes from the history of the Knights in Vittoriosa on a regular basis and does so with panache, colour and zeal.

Earlier on in the day, last Thursday, I was launching in Mdina a ten-day festival stretching from October 7 until the 17th that will focus on Malta's historic cities.

That means Valletta, Mdina, Victoria (Gozo) and Cottonera's three cities. It will be the first time ever that the festival will be assuming such a format, highlighting the fact that there is more than one historic city to focus on, and that such festivals must not be seen as an end to themselves, but must be seen as a marketing tool through which to bring over more tourists.

Put simply, I have been telling the MTA that such festivals cannot be organised merely for the benefit of whoever happens to learn of the events by chance, but must be planned out well ahead to ensure that they become part and parcel of how we sell product Malta abroad. The Historic Cities Festival seeks to implement that policy on the basis of which we shall be working further in the coming months.

Tomorrow is World Tourism Day. In our country, the most important message is to understand that it is on the basis of our history and culture, on the basis of our unique jewels that we best stand to make of our own country what it really represents - not merely one more destination, but an experience that every visitor will cherish.

It is up to us to ensure that the experience is positive and one that is complete.

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