Ask the tourist

I have followed with interest the letters in The Times about the state of tourism in Malta and the need for low air fares. Having travelled to Malta over 20 times in the last nine years, I feel that those responsible for tourism are not on the right track and have got their priorities wrong.

More than 50 per cent of the people, who have been here only once, whom I discuss Malta with, say that they would never come here again, and the cost of the flight is not on their list of reasons. Furthermore, the other 50 per cent who love being in Malta are mainly those who don't go anywhere near the tourist areas, or use their hotels or apartments, but instead stay with friends and relatives and mix with the real Maltese people. These real Maltese people are the ones who make Malta worth visiting again. When I ask the English people why they wouldn't come again I'm given the same answers every time, and they are mainly little things that are easily put right but are still important.

For instance, the blatant rip-off prices charged for food and drinks in tourist areas compared with local bars and restaurants. In some places a bottle of beer is twice that of a local bar for no apparent reason. The lack of hygiene in public toilets is always high on the list. In most cases the ones that I have seen are not healthy enough to set foot inside added to the fact that females have to pay while the males don't.

Then there is the fact that so many of the bus inspectors are so rude and sullen, and have very little patience with older tourists who are not sure which bus they need to take, and also some bus drivers are quite good at short-changing foreign customers.

The fact that there is very little regular entertainment for the younger tourists is another reason. They come to life late at night and like to dance the night away. The quality and presentation of food in the hotels has also been mentioned several times. I, however, always use the restaurants that the Maltese people use, which I find top class.

Cheaper flights will make no difference at all to the situation if once the tourists get here there is a mountain of small irritable things going on that need addressing.

I think that, instead of trying to guess what is needed to bring the type of tourist who will want to come again and again, those responsible should be asking the tourists themselves what they would like to see improved on. In all areas of business the consumer has the absolute power to make or break that business since s/he provide the money.

Ask them, they'll know.