Globally, the entire industry of tourism is undergoing many changes. If we do not change our own tourism products and services we will fall behind in this fiercely competitive businesses. More people are travelling abroad. More affordable sea and air access have turned regional competition into a global one. Many countries are working hard to attract travellers, with skilful marketing plans offering exciting experiences and modern tourism infrastructure.

Many destinations are involved in a deep process of innovation and change aimed at providing a tourism experience that not only delivers what it promises but also exceeds customer expectations in terms of friendliness, price, quality of environment and diversity of culture.

Peter Keller, president of the OECD Tourism Committee, stresses that innovation is an ongoing, never-ending process: "Innovation in tourism is no longer a question of a giant leap forward. Innovation is more often constituted of a series of small steps that lead to incremental growth. Innovation is a feedback process. One innovation inevitably leads to another. Innovations improve products and reduce the cost of processes. The innovation process has thus become an investment process."

The Labour Party's action plan to rejuvenate our tourism is built on this philosophy. Working with the private sector, the social partners and civil society, a Labour government would put our country on a path towards a significantly stronger tourism industry for the longer term. After a long and wide consultation process the Labour Party has now come up with a well-designed short-term action plan with a long term vision and strategy.

Labour's action plan recognises that success in tourism depends on a whole country approach: collaboration and co-ordination within Government and with the private sector and civil society. Success in tourism can only be achieved through a genuinely national tourism strategy drawn up and implemented by the full range of players in the public and private sectors.

Labour's action plan commits the government to ease the burden of taxation, understanding that the high cost of tourism products and services is partly a result of high taxation. Government must use its fiscal measures to help our islands compete with other destinations.

In its newsletter last November, the Malta Business Bureau (MBB - a unit based in Brussels by the Federation of Industry, the Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants' Association) reviewed the Labour Party's action plan. The MBB acknowledged the need for a reduced tax burden on tourism, the need to grasp all EU-funding opportunities, the need to transpose EU legislation in a business-friendly approach and the need for an integrated strategic plan ...outlined in Labour's action plan.

The MBB newsletter concluded: "It is important that both MBB and MHRA continue looking at all possible avenues to revitalise the tourism sector in Malta and Gozo so that we experience growth rates of 4-5 per cent per annum. There should be an open, transparent dialogue between the main political forces - with the private sector - so that Malta maximises its role in the EU and pushes tourism up the agenda of successive EU presidencies."

Innovating Gozo

Gozo can have a thriving tourism sector, creating jobs and wealth for Gozitans. Labour's main proposal for Gozo's tourism industry consists of the setting up of a Gozo Tourism Authority with its own financial and human resources, with the direct involvement of the Gozo Tourism Association, the Gozo Business Chamber and other Gozitan operators in tourism to market Gozo, develop its product by embellishing the island, by keeping it clean and improving the road system and maintaining properly all the tourism zones in Gozo.

Labour does not want to destroy Gozo by overdeveloping it and burying it under more and more buildings. Destroying Gozo's countryside does not make environmental and economic sense. Most of today's tourists are looking for nature-based tourism and are moving away from theme parks and man-made environments. So we need to be very careful when we enhance Gozo's product through more facilities and attractions like another yacht marina, a golf course, a better infrastructure for divers and a thorough rehabilitation of the neglected and abandoned valleys.

Labour is in favour of providing and affordable, frequent and all-year-round sea and air link between Malta and Gozo. Labour will subsidise the helicopter service between the two islands to increase tourist arrivals. If the helicopter service will not be enough, a future Labour government would consider other air links provided they are sustainable environmentally and financially.

Labour is also proposing measures to make available check-in facilities for tourists in Gozo 24 hours prior to their flight back home from Malta to ease the hassle of their trip. A future Labour government would create mooring facilities for passenger cruise liners off Gozo to encourage them to disembark passengers in Gozo. Labour would also launch schemes to stimulate internal tourism and encourage more Maltese to visit Gozo throughout the year, especially in winter.

Gozitan tourism operators support these proposals because they took an active part in the consultation process and came up with their own critical feedback and new proposals to revive tourism in Gozo.

Gozo's tourism is going through very difficult times. Hotel occupancy, at around 30 per cent, is lower than half that of Malta. Fewer tourists and Maltese are travelling to Gozo since the ferry and helicopter service raised fares. More Gozitans are having to travel to Malta to work in hotels and restaurants as a job in Gozo's tourism sector has become more precarious since the island's tourism became more seasonal with the best period in late July and August.

We need to renew Gozo's tourism and give it a new lease of life to create more jobs and wealth. We need to create the right economic conditions for investors to start investing again in Gozo's tourism and for Gozitans to seriously consider taking up a career in tourism. Only then can the Institute of Tourism in Gozo promote a dynamic plan to develop the skills of all the human resources needed for a successful tourism sector.

The Labour Party is ready to work hand in hand with all those who want to take an active part in the innovation and growth of our islands' tourism.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com