Tourism is facing a serious crisis and prominent hoteliers have called for the resignation of the Minister of Tourism. When a team is playing well but one of the key players is performing badly, it makes a lot of sense to replace that player. But it is simply not enough to substitute a single player when the whole team is playing badly. The problems facing the tourism industry are not the fault of a single minister, but of the whole government. So only a change of government, rather than a single minister, can give a new beginning to the tourism industry.
In November 2004, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi declared that between 2005 and 2007 Malta and Gozo would start getting an additional 150,000 tourists, 50,000 more every year. This target was not reached last year and there is no indication that 70,000 more tourists will visit us this year to reach this year's target and make up for last year's shortfall.
For many months now, Dr Gonzi has been insisting that the restructuring process at the Malta Tourism Authority is completed and that it is bearing the desired results. An essential part of this process was the drawing up of a national strategic plan for tourism. This plan should have been drawn up by November 2005. We are in the middle of 2006 and the government and the MTA have still not drawn up such a plan.
In the beginning of April 2006, on the eve of an extraordinary general meeting called by members of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association to discuss the serious crisis facing tourism, the Prime Minister announced initiatives to boost winter tourism and make local operators more competitive. He said the government would give incentives to low-cost and traditional airlines willing to start operating on new routes in order to boost winter tourism to Malta and Gozo. He also said the government would set up a new portal to promote the country and enable tourists to book their holidays in Malta online. He declared that, as from 2007, the government would cut by half the fees paid by tourism operators to the MTA.
The government was disappointed when the following day the MHRA members said that the measures announced by the Prime Minister were inadequate to revive the tourism industry and make it profitable again.
Three months have passed since Dr Gonzi announced his government's measures to boost tourism. The new website to promote and sell Malta and Gozo online was supposed to start operating by this summer and the tourism operators have still to be approached to participate in this website and they do not know what stage its setting up has reached so far.
The government is still waiting for the European Commission to give its go ahead on the incentives granted to low-cost and traditional airlines to fly new routes to Malta in winter.
The government's decision to cut by half the tourism operators' fees payable to the MTA is certainly not enough to help them cope with declining income and rising costs that are threatening the sustainability of the tourism industry.
While tourism remains sluggish, thousands of tourists find it impossible to come to Malta and Gozo as there are no flights to bring them over. Even Air Malta turns down tourists who want to fly from main European cities saying its planes are full, even if then they fly half empty as their blocked seats are not taken up.
To revive our tourism:
¤ We must draw up a national tourism plan and coordinate our efforts as a nation to improve our standards in tourism.
¤ We need to ensure that all our localities in Malta and Gozo benefit from tourism and help hotels and restaurants in the south, the north and in Gozo to thrive and not lag behind the core tourism zone in Sliema and St Julians.
¤ We need to clean up our country, stop destroying our rural and urban environment and reverse the damage we have wrought on this fair land.
¤ We need to make our product more authentic, so we must increase the local content in terms of food, culture, customs, and music.
¤ We need to review the tax structure that is undermining the industry's viability.
We need to have a leaner regulatory regime.
¤ We need to help entrepreneurs improve the quality of the service and product offered by three- and four-star hotels and we need a better-trained workforce at all levels in tourism.
¤ We need to market ourselves much better than we are doing and increase our visibility and accessibility through a much more effective use of the internet as a marketing and sales tool and also use our embassies effectively to replace the overseas offices closed down by the MTA.
To achieve all this it is not enough to replace the present Minister of Tourism. It is time to change the losing team running our country and bring in a Labour government. The Labour Party has shown over the years a strong commitment to tourism and an ability to deliver results. We can do so again.
evaristbartolo@hotmail.com