Thinking outside the box - October 15, 2006

The public debate about the reasons behind our poor performance in tourism is a healthy one, and it has shown how deeply this industry affects so many of us. But now we need to move on from the polemical debate, and the justifiable frustration of those who feel let down by the poor management of this industry by a dysfunctional government. We need to overcome the inertia brought about by the sense of helplessness of those who are beginning to give up on this important motor of our economy.

But the solution to our declining industry is not some sudden burst of activity to create dramatic effect and give the impression that things are changing. If we opt for this short-sighted action, what we will in fact be doing is just a cosmetic exercise to hide the more sombre realities which this industry is facing.

Too often you hear simplistic statements that now we have discovered what is wrong with our tourism and an ingenious quick fix will soon put things right again. Low-cost airlines, a general clean-up of the island, restrictions on construction projects in the peak tourist season and a better projection of Malta in the international market have all been mentioned as factors that are needed to promote our product more effectively. No doubt these are important critical success factors. But I argue that much more than this is needed.

We need, for once, to think strategically and decide on the tactics only after we go through the disciplined exercise of strategic planning. Like every other product, our tourist product is aging, and some would say that, in its present format, it has long passed its sell-by date. Contrary to what many seem to think, Malta does not sell itself like the island of Capri, or Venice, or Nice or Monaco. We need to convince some of the millions of holidaymakers who every year make conscious decisions on where to spend their holidays in an ever increasing and competitive market that Malta is a better destination than the several hundreds of other destinations on offer.

The first step should be for us as a country to define our objectives for the tourism industry. This vision is not difficult to define, but much more complex to build a plan on how to achieve such an objective. No doubt we would like to attract as many tourists as the island can sustain at any one time, and preferably these would have good spending power to give the best economic return without straining too much our environment and physical infrastructure.

The next step is to assess the environment of this industry which has changed considerably, even from what it was ten years ago. Sometimes we give the impression of being caught in a time warp. Unfortunately the government, most of the investors in this industry, and even those employed in tourism- related services, still aim to cater for the type of tourists we used to attract several years ago.

Away from our comfort zone

The external environment has changed. There are new competitors offering low-cost holidays with a decent standard of service and facilities which are not unique to any one particular country. Travelling cheaply to distant destinations is a reality for practically all European Union citizens. Choosing a destination is today more likely to be done from the comfort of one's home through the Internet rather than after a visit to the local travel agency. We have still not got our act together to start tapping new markets like China whose tourists have started travelling by the millions, including to the European mainland where other countries have teamed up to offer joint-up destinations.

Our internal environment is changing too, possibly for the worse. The over-development, aimed partly to provide better accommodation to prospective tourists, may have reached a stage where it is scaring away, rather than attracting, tourists. Most of our roads are more similar to what one would expect in Africa, than a European tourist destination. Our law enforcement on public cleanliness is practically non existent. Some of the operators are more interested in making a quick gain by overcharging rather than giving good value for money to our tourists.

When we are sure that we really understand our external and internal environment, we would need to understand our competitive advantages. And we do have many unique competitive advantages which are however often taken for granted. Our unique historical sites located in a small area are valued far more by some of our better informed visitors than by those of us whose duty it is to promote our island abroad.

After we identify what makes the Maltese Islands unique, we would need to understand the evolving trends because the tourism market, like any other market, is never static. Armed with this knowledge we must then prepare the plans needed to translate our strategy into action.

We must stop adopting tactics before we define our strategy following a tough exercise of soul searching to understand our strengths and weaknesses as competitors in this overcrowded industry. Deciding on our branding tactics before our strategic plan for tourism was defined, was a classical case of putting the cart before the horse.

However tempting it is for this government to adopt short-term tactics to instil some life in our ailing tourism industry, we need to challenge the way we have been managing our tourism for the past few decades. Inaugurating a new perched beach, or waiting for a low-cost airline to reverse the declining trend will not rescue this industry. We must start thinking outside the box even if this takes us away from our comfort zone. Only in this way can we really bring about the change which is so badly needed for our tourism industry.