Bangs and whimpers

Even as the tourism industry limps along with a whimper, the outgoing chairman and CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority would have anyone who would listen believe he is going out with a bang. He resigned, with effect from August, declaring that his mission had been accomplished - barely 18 months on.

What has been a forgettable period in a story that cannot seem to go right is growing sadder as it nears its end. It would be unfair and misleading to blame a single person for the weak state of tourism. Or two for that matter - the chairman/CEO and his minister. Rising relative and absolute costs, heightening competition, inadequate carrying capacity and a location image that has begged for a radical makeover remain to be addressed as an ongoing and vigorous process, whoever is at the helm.

Such problems and their gravity cannot be attributed to any two individuals, even if they are the best of the pick. The incumbent minister and the exiting MTA chairman/CEO are not quite that. That the minister is a nice man and committed to his brief is not enough. Too strong a taste for publicity, rather than recognition that tourism ministers had best not be seen much, but keep busy in the demanding background, does not help.

And the chairman/CEO, whatever his skills at a hotel operational level, did not make it at the national level. The mission within his reach was to mobilise and motivate his team, and to gain the trust and backing of the industry. More relevant than the hollowness of the big claim that he leaves with his mission, as defined by him, accomplished is chairman/CEO's declaration to his staff and to the media that he will stay on till August to oversee the selection of a new CEO for the authority.

That should have made the Prime Minister wince, as not a few in the sector did. The MTA needs a fresh start, without forwarding old baggage. The first step now should be the immediate appointment of a new chairman and a review of the MTA's board. There are some excellent top managers in the hotel sector who might be persuaded to contribute, quietly but effectively as they do in the hotels they manage. The PM has to be certain that he gets the composition right this time.

The reconstituted board should then go about selecting a CEO, without any political influence or interference. The new team will not be able to resolve situations which are beyond its influence, let alone control. It will be unable to do anything about the cost of energy to hoteliers. Or to spruce up the Maltese Islands. It will not be up to it to bite the bullet concerning lower-cost airlines.

The team would start with the trust of the sector. It could and should set out the facts without rhetorical and misleading bangs. It could and should work more closely with those involved in tourism, within the realities that bed nights and the tourist spend are declining, that it is not magical number-targets that truly count, but net revenue.

The tourism minister, whether the new one or a belated replacement, can and should work away from the limelight, especially to harry his colleagues, including the PM, to get more serious about reducing bureaucracy and its cost, cleaning up and embellishing the islands, executing public works and regulating private construction sanely, and not as if deliberately to hinder tourism. Hoteliers and other tourism operators could contribute to a fresh start by speaking less stridently, pressing for the achievable, and recognising economic realities.

The tourism industry does not need bangs, whinges and whimpers. It needs focused and concerted action at all levels.