What is there to see here?

We boast that when it comes to cultural heritage per square kilometre we are only second to Rome in the whole world. We have a number of archaeological temples and sites that are unique. We have carried out some excellent restoration work like the Knights' Infirmary and the Valletta Waterfront that have won Europa Nostra Awards. We have a lot of heritage to be proud of on these islands and to share with the rest of the world, but how many people in Europe, North America and Asia know about our cultural treasures?

We must break away from our deeply ingrained insularity and look at our islands through the eyes of outsiders. Recent market research in our core markets shows that Malta is not considered a "must-see destination". There is very little awareness that in three days on these islands travellers can experience 7,000 years of history within a very short distance of each other. It is very sad to read that very few people out there feel that the Maltese Islands have any rare, unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences to offer tourists and captivate them.

Every year only 190,000 tourists (16 per cent) come to visit our heritage. Two-thirds of them come in winter and from March to June. More than half of them stay in three- and four-star hotels. Less than 10 per cent stay in five-star hotels. Over 29 per cent stay in other accommodation.

If we want more cultural tourists we must change into a heritage destination. We must make sure that our museums, sites and facilities are open when the tourists want to visit them and that they are as user-friendly as possible. We must celebrate all the successive and diverse cultures that make up our heritage and not just focus on the Knights.

Over the years we have spent millions of liri on marketing and advertising ourselves as a tourist destination. We have created an unattractive stereotyped image of ourselves and we must now build a new image of our islands and develop our product and we must make sure that the whole country delivers what we promise.

We have to get more tourists to visit us from November to March. But we will only do that if we can beat the competition by delivering what today's tourists want and are ready to pay for. We are now in a painful period of transition as we struggle to change and adapt ourselves to the realities of tourism in the 21st century. Our old tourism is dying and the new one is not yet born.

Between the old and the new

This is how prleap.com captures our predicament at the moment: "While the loss of the tour operators bringing tourists to the island is significant, in time the island will be less reliant on their business as more and more people make independent travel plans through the Internet, and book their flights and hotels in Malta independently of traditional holiday companies. Malta tends to attract the older tourist, so it might take longer than somewhere like Ibiza, for example, which attracts a younger visitor who as a group are more Internet-friendly," states managing director Roger Munns, "but in time when the Internet is seen as the primary source of booking a holiday across the age range, Malta will stand as much chance as anywhere of attracting tourists.

"There has been speculation for some time now that low-cost airlines are going to start offering flights to Malta, and this will help the Malta hotels and holiday market as more people consider three- and four-day breaks instead of the traditional week or fortnight, boosting the overall number of visitors, especially if Air Malta and the low-cost airlines bring the cost of Malta flights to levels seen for the Spanish islands.

"With an ineffective promotions board there is plenty of hope still for the holiday market in Malta, despite and not because of, the Malta Tourism Authority, who are failing to promote Malta in the UK in any meaningful way."

We can become an exciting new tourist destination. But there are a number of steps that we must take according to a national tourism strategic action plan drawn up by all the players involved. We must stop destroying and burying more of our cultural and natural heritage under more and more ugly buildings. We must clean up our country and keep it that way. We must preserve our heritage and bring it to life with better presentation and animation. We must improve the skill level of our people engaged in all the links of the chain delivering services and products to our tourists.

We must do away with mediocrity and instill a new culture of standards and high quality in everything we do. We must learn to work together and become a strong national network all pulling together in the same direction. We need to bring down government-induced costs for hotels and restaurants. We need a new stock of budget hotels that offer good services at the right price. Our tourism sector must learn to use the Internet as an effective marketing tool.

We must provide the necessary market support to make flying to Malta more affordable and accessible for tourists who have hundreds of other destinations which are easier and cheaper to fly to. We must have an effective marketing structure and strategy to promote our islands in Europe, North America and Asia.

Something rotten in MTA

For months now I have been very prudent about the restructuring of the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA). In fact people in the industry have criticised me for being too prudent. Some have even interpreted my silence as condoning what is going on at MTA and that, because I am on good terms with the chairman and the directors, I am satisfied with the new set-up at MTA and the new direction it has taken since late 2004.

I have spent the last 18 months observing closely what has been going on at MTA. I can now say that some things have gone very wrong. A lot of personal energies and good talent are being wasted in inner feuding as persons who should be focusing on their job of promoting our islands overseas are paralysed and frustrated. MTA is lacking strategic leadership and a lot of micromanaging of trivialities is taking place while the big picture is lost. I meet a lot of good MTA people who feel demoralised and are not being allowed to give their best. Some very good people have already gone, as they could not stand it any longer. Others are considering leaving. There is no healthy team spirit at MTA.

Since Government and MTA closed down the offices in all the core markets except the United Kingdom and Germany, our islands have lost their presence and visibility. This decision must be revisited. We must have our own people promoting our islands overseas.

By all means let us make sure that there is no money wasted in doing so. MTA now boasts that money that was previously gobbled up in duplicated administrative expense is now being used effectively in marketing. Instead of wasting money on offices, money is now being wasted on a lot of ineffective and pointless travel to fairs and events that certainly do not substitute the networking by our representatives overseas when they worked and lived among the people they were working hard to bring to our islands.