Not the answer to everything

I know it might sound strange, but one of my worst nightmares is that Malta strikes a lot of oil in our territorial waters, become a very rich country, and then the population will not have to work or want to work, so they sit down and do nothing.

In Malta, we have always had to earn a living for ourselves because we have no natural resources whatsoever, and this has made us a great and hardworking country.

However, deep inside the nature of some of us is the desire that if we can get away with not doing anything we will do our utmost to do so, and this is what is really worrying me.

We build something new and do business with what we build and then carry on without really maintaining and upgrading what we have.

In the past, and up to now, we have gotten away with this way of working, but it is so short-sighted and cannot continue, especially in such a competitive world.

For example, we build flats to rent. We rent them out to good people when the place is new and we receive high rents. Some owners do not maintain them and so they are then rented out to different people, thus obtaining lower rents, until eventually the owners cannot rent them at all because nobody wants them, and so they are sold.

We build hotels; we receive tourists when the hotel is new. Some owners do not maintain or upgrade their hotels and so they have difficulty finding high-paying tourists, tour operators get upset, and so the rooms are let at lower rates. Maintenance is still not done, so eventually, after grumbling and blaming everyone except themselves (the owners), the rooms are let to students because they say there are no tourists. This will continue for as long as the students will tolerate the conditions, then maybe the hotel will be demolished and a block of flats will be built, which will then be sold.

We say we are doing this because there are no tourists around. It is true that at present there are fewer tourists, but cannot some of the blame be apportioned to the general state and appearance of the accommodation and services being offered?

Last year, I had to pick up a client from a three-star hotel in Sliema. This client was a high-ranking military officer from Italy. While waiting for him in the lobby of the hotel, I sat down on one of the lounge chairs in the entrance hall. The chair was filthy and the upholstery was torn and tatty. I was ashamed; because when the guest arrived he sat down beside me on the same dirty chair.

This example is by no means an exception, and if one visits some of our three-star hotels, one will see exactly what I mean.

Now what will happen when the low-cost airlines start coming to Malta and become very successful? Make no mistake about it, in the future they will be very successful indeed, and so too will Air Malta. What will happen then? Will some of these new tourists be accommodated in the same substandard hotels? Will some of our hotels stay in the same dilapidated condition they are in now? Will these hotel owners say thanks for the tourists and do nothing to rejuvenate and renovate their premises?

If we are not strict with the quality of standards needed to accommodate these new tourists, we will be giving another batch of newcomers a horrible first taste of Malta.

The Malta Tourism Authority has established rules, regulations and standards, and these must all be enforced properly so that when we receive the large increase of tourists that will definitely be coming to Malta and Gozo, they will all be accommodated at a standard they deserve.

Low-cost airlines are not the answer to everything; we must make sure we receive the expected increase of tourists in a fit and proper manner, otherwise, no matter how inexpensive it will be to get to Malta, the tourists will stay away and go elsewhere.

One of the most important things a tourist looks for is decent and clean accommodation.

Let us not carry on as we have done in the past. Let us prepare now and ensure that if there are hotels that are of an inferior standard they will not be allowed to accept tourists until their standards improve to an acceptable international level.

Mr Salt is a real estate agent and a former chairman of the MTA's Product Planning and Development Directorate.