Travel agents accuse media of 'creating panic'

The Federation of Associations of Travel and Tourism Agents (Fatta) said yesterday it was concerned that recent media reports on the state of tourism in Malta were "a systematic campaign aimed at creating panic and a wave of mass hysteria".

It said that while acknowledging that the tourism sector's performance in the first quarter of this year is worrying, and that this may affect the overall performance for the year, "this is not a time for witch hunting, finger pointing or searching for scapegoats".

The negative performance, it said, "is a result of competition becoming fiercer than ever, fuelled by a growth rate in supply that by far outstrips the growth rate in demand".

Fatta said it was indeed unfortunate that the media was taking advantage of the situation to promote the cause of low cost carriers demanding government subsidies for their operations.

"The media is running an orchestrated campaign to give the public the impression that low cost airlines are the perfect solution to the problem," it said.

In doing so, Fatta argued, the media was systematically reporting only those stakeholders that were advocating such subsidies, conveniently disregarding other key stakeholders whose position does not fit the campaign.

"The reports themselves are inconsistent as they are strongly advocating the subsidies while at the same time lamenting the possibilities that tour operators are considering shifting their capacity to competing destinations," Fatta said.

Fatta said it had already warned that the advent of low cost airlines will actually stimulate tour operators to shift their capacity away from Malta. "This has already happened in other competing destinations, and will happen in Malta too. A cautious and balanced approach by the government is therefore commendable, and the market should be left to find its own balance without introducing distortions."

The private sector should collectively use its representation on the Malta Tourism Authority board and on the newly appointed private sector advisory committees to guide and support the MTA to tackle the situation in the most effective way, Fatta said.

It appealed to the media to be "prudent and balanced rather than sensational in the interest of the country's prime industry".