Mr and Mrs Average live in the UK. They work hard all year long so that they can take a one-week holiday in spring and a two-week holiday in summer.
They like to stay in a hotel where the food is good and the service friendly. During their spring break they enjoy going for country walks, while in summer they like to try "a little bit of this and a little bit of that".
Mr and Mrs Average will put money into the economy of their chosen resort, by taking a boat trip, visiting a historical town, climbing aboard a mini bus to see cultural and heritage sites and walking around a local market. In the evenings, they like nothing better than to find a restaurant where they can eat and drink while overlooking the blue Mediterranean sea.
Their teenage children prefer a bit more activity and will hire a jet ski, go for a paraglide and try their hand at scuba diving.
The Maltese islands can offer them all of the above, so why do they choose other resorts?
Because what they do not want are surly bus drivers and ice cream vendors who see them as an easy target and rip them off. They do not want to be woken at 6 a.m. by the sound of demolition and construction or to have to risk injury walking down a cratered road, avoiding half dug ditches and pot holes.
Sitting on their hotel balcony they do not expect to be covered by clouds of dust from the construction sites. They hate the amount of rubbish and dog excrement that litter the streets. In spring their country walks are spoilt by threats and intimidation of hunters, even though they stick strictly to the trail shown on their leaflet issued by local councils and the Malta Tourist Authority.
So why are we losing out to Egypt, Greece, Tunisia, Spain and countless other resorts? Simple, these countries enforce their health and safety regulations, construction sites are surrounded by scaffolding and netting erected to cause minimal disruption and discomfort. Permitted times of working on these sites is strictly adhered to. Swift and harsh penalties are handed down by the courts to offenders who break the regulations. This also is true of those who drop litter, dump waste, or fail to clean up their pet's droppings. Private companies and local authorities are penalised if they dare to leave an open trench unguarded.
When Mr and Mrs Average make a complaint, it is dealt with seriously and action taken against the offender. In Malta their complaint is met with a shrug of indifference, or the lame excuse that the relevant agency does not have the resources of staff available.
The government's policy should be enforcement, enforcement and enforcement. We don't need sweeping (no pun intended), wide ranging changes to be made we just need to, literally, clean up our act.