Resurrecting Bugibba

Business in Bugibba, Qawra and St Paul's Bay is dying. This sad fact cannot be dismissed as a local problem. With more than 13,000 hotel beds in the area, over 400 restaurants and bars, hundreds of small businesses of souvenir shops, ferry and boat services, car hire and others providing services to tourists, we have at least one-third of our tourism industry concentrated in this area.

Anyone walking through Bugibba/Qawra during the recent festive season and weekends would have noticed how deserted and empty it looked and still looks. The Christmas spirit was missing in Bugibba this year. The general manager of a three-star hotel in Bugibba says: "I live in Qawra and can also confirm that in previous years one could not find a parking space in the area on the festive eves and weekends, this year there were plenty of empty spaces to be had."

The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) recently organised a meeting for its members in Bugibba, Qawra and St Paul's Bay to discuss the business situation after one of the "worst Christmases and winters this locality has experienced".

MHRA president Josef Formosa Gauci said that the increase in tourist arrivals in November and December was not being felt throughout the country and especially in the Bugibba-Qawra area. Most of the establishments in these resorts that remained open in winter are registering reduced occupancies compared to last year, even though a number of hotels are not open this season. This situation is also having a very negative effect on restaurants in the locality that have seen their revenues decline sharply. 

A friend of mine spent three weeks as a tourist in the area last August and this is what he had to say about his experience: "Most businesses complained of a drastic drop in turnover, often 60-70 per cent, through a lack of tourists and less spending by locals. The local grocers, ironmongers, bakeries, etc, who supplied the permanent residents were not complaining too much, apart from the big increase in overhead costs. Restaurants with Maltese clients are surviving better than those which rely on tourists.

"Since 1994-96, when I was last in the area with tourism interests, great improvements were made by the Labour administration, but now there are still far too many examples of sheer neglect, such as dangerous pavements, road holes, and seemingly uncontrolled building. Much of the area still looks like a building site, with all the inconvenience to tourists. The obsession with building and development to keep the economy going short-term is directly damaging tourism, the most important long-term sector in the economy. Many of the big hotels have maintained occupancy ratios by minimising prices to break-even point, but with this sacrifice they are keeping the industry alive."

In March 2006 I took part in a meeting organised by MHRA and all present agreed that this important zone was in deep crisis and that an action plan was needed to revive it. Nearly a year has passed since then, and the situation has got worse. Government has done nothing to tackle the big problems that affect the area. Since that meeting tourist establishments have had to shed workers. A number of them have closed down.

The general manager of a three-star hotel in the area believes that the PN government does not care what happens to the area and to the three-star hotels struggling to survive there: "Notte Magica in Valletta is successfully organised by the present Minister of Tourism and held occasionally. Notte Morte in Bugibba was successfully organised by the previous Minister of Tourism and is now held daily. Some years back the previous Minister of Tourism decided that Malta no longer wanted the bucket-and-spade brigade, but only the four- and five-star tourist. This policy has now filtered in and has achieved the desired results!"

He believes that the PN government's real agenda is to reduce Bugibba, Qawra and St Paul's Bay to a summer resort. "This policy apparently does not apply to hotels in the Sliema/St Julian's area." He accuses Government MPs of not caring for this area.

Wake-up calls ignored

My friend, who spent three weeks in Bugibba last August, observes: "There is no co-ordination in overall direction; everything is left to individual initiatives or to the incompetent local council. The 'perched beach' farce is typical - it is a good idea to create new beaches, but it was not thought through or even completed on time." He complains of the inadequate bus service for most of the time. "The worst aspect, as in the rest of Malta, is the lack of a proper night service. It still seems that the service is run for the convenience of the operators and taxi drivers, not the public."

Talking to hotel, restaurant and bar operators, he found out that their operating costs have risen, while their revenue is down and their viability is seriously threatened. "There are many attractive and well-run businesses in the area and it is depressing to see them struggling for lack of customers. Some long established private operators are blaming what they call "over development", which has created too many beds to fill. All grumbled about the high cost of airfares. Sadly, there are still too many operators, usually the younger ones, who will try to shortchange or overcharge a foreigner, damaging the reputation of Malta."

At the recent MHRA meetings for tourism operators in the area the same problems were identified: lack of cleanliness due to lack of uniform refuse collection, construction sites, open sites used as dumping areas, lack of upkeep of soft areas, lack of maintenance on the promenade, lack of public conveniences, lack of parking facilities and lack of proper signage.

The MHRA has called on the authorities to help regenerate these resorts, otherwise the trend of closing hotels and turning them into real estate developments will continue and possibly accelerate, with the resultant loss in employment and economic activity in the area.

It is not the first time that the MHRA has issued such a wake-up call only to be ignored by the PN government. The Labour Party is ready to give a helping hand and support a concrete action plan based on a public-private partnership that addresses the serious problems affecting Bugibba, Qawra and St Paul's Bay. This area can be maintained much better than at present. Its facilities can be enhanced to attract more visitors.

The next Labour government is committing itself to reduce government-induced costs on tourism operators to improve their viability. We will also market effectively this tourism zone and support the area's operators to innovate their products and services. The last Labour government has already resurrected the area once by carrying out a top quality embellishment project. The area needs a Labour government again, before it is too late. After all, even Lazarus was resurrected only once.

evaristbartolo@hotmail.com