Bombast in tandem
One wonders how Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech reacted to the opinion piece on tourism carried in The Times of March 3. The article carried what turned out to be a rather ambiguous, if not outright misleading heading: Power To The Driving Force.
One wonders how Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech reacted to the opinion piece on tourism carried in The Times of March 3. The article carried what turned out to be a rather ambiguous, if not outright misleading heading: Power To The Driving Force. Given his title, his commitment and his frequent incursions in the media on the subject, not to mention the work he carries out behind the scenes, one used to think that the driving force behind the industry was its minister.
He is certainly the person who is accountable to the people for it. Otherwise why should the incumbent be so regularly and so extensively pilloried by those in the trade and the critical media who are fed up with hearing the unwelcome clatter of broken promises and failed targets? Francis is a very earnest and generally speaking likeable man.
Had he not been the political manager responsible to drive his charge, he would have led a far easier life these past years since he was placed in the hot seat of arguably the most important sector of the economy. To the extent that one might say he was not totally responsible, because Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi made himself more responsible than Dr Zammit Dimech by heading the Cabinet committee on tourism himself.
For the past three years, therefore, the driving force has been widely presumed to be the Gonzi-Zammit Dimech tandem. It is they who see to it that the Malta Tourism Authority is composed of persons judiciously selected by them collectively to give the best possible impetus to tourism and to oversee industry. The tandem was made to stick through thin and thin by the Prime Minister.
Notwithstanding public calls to him to reallocate Dr Zammit Dimech elsewhere, Dr Gonzi manfully stuck with him, confident that, in time, the tandem would evolve into a truly dynamic driving force, and deliver.
It now turns out that the bosses of the MTA itself evidently believe that the Gonzi-Zammit Dimech tandem was worse than worthless, and presided over a calamitous decline that called for a saving force, a truly powerful force that would be justified in demanding more power.
That became clear from the Opinion piece in The Times, penned by no other than Messrs Sam and David Mifsud, newest non-executive chairman and chief executive officer of the MTA. They took it upon themselves - felt it was their duty, actually - to tell anyone who cared to read them what they had achieved "after six months at the helm of the Malta Tourism Authority".
Had the article been written so that its authors could express their detached opinion of the Gonzi-Zammit Dimech tandem, they would have exposed themselves to the charge of being sycophants of the worst order. As it is, they definitely are not. The tandem they speak of is nobody but themselves, a variation of the lyrics by NEK for their hit song Due come noi.
Sam Mifsud and David Mifsud very obviously do not believe that self-praise is no recommendation, even if, quite evidently, their objective in writing in the media was to make it clear that, in their calculated opinion, they had inherited a bundle of messed-up policies and decisions.
Minister Zammit Dimech, the man responsible for many of those policies and decisions at quite less than arm's length, is unlikely to react to the implied criticism. Particularly so if the article was referred to him before it was submitted to The Times and, tongue-tied as he must have become when he read it, nodded his silent clearance as he would have caused a rumpus had he blocked it. The MTA chair and CEO, therefore, went ahead to detail "the initiatives and changes that have been set in motion" by the "MTA's new leadership almost immediately after taking office."
The backhanded slap on the Tourism Ministry's politico-bureaucratic face was particularly evident when the two Mifsuds mentioned the ministry by name. "Together with the Ministry for Tourism and Culture," they wrote, " the MTA was instrumental in the formulation of the Tourism Plan for Malta and Gozo, launched recently..." One had been led to believe, by the minister and his ministry, that the plan was being formulated well before the "new leadership" became the self-proclaimed driving force.
The force also implicitly claimed credit for the increase in arrivals over the November-February period relative to a year previously. Translated, that means the new leaders who, they remind readers, took over in September, managed to turn the tide within weeks.
A bit of self-praise may be inevitable at times, and in essence it is good practice for the MTA to keep the tourism industry and the public informed of what is going on. But the degree to which one lauds the self can become almost ridiculous. It is important that the MTA is well led and for it to be much more than merely an extension of the Ministry for Tourism.
Those who are responsible for managing it have to be given time and space to implement policies, as well as to contribute towards their development. It would be a pitiful waste if they were to fill too much of that time and space with bombast.
He is certainly the person who is accountable to the people for it. Otherwise why should the incumbent be so regularly and so extensively pilloried by those in the trade and the critical media who are fed up with hearing the unwelcome clatter of broken promises and failed targets? Francis is a very earnest and generally speaking likeable man.
Had he not been the political manager responsible to drive his charge, he would have led a far easier life these past years since he was placed in the hot seat of arguably the most important sector of the economy. To the extent that one might say he was not totally responsible, because Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi made himself more responsible than Dr Zammit Dimech by heading the Cabinet committee on tourism himself.
For the past three years, therefore, the driving force has been widely presumed to be the Gonzi-Zammit Dimech tandem. It is they who see to it that the Malta Tourism Authority is composed of persons judiciously selected by them collectively to give the best possible impetus to tourism and to oversee industry. The tandem was made to stick through thin and thin by the Prime Minister.
Notwithstanding public calls to him to reallocate Dr Zammit Dimech elsewhere, Dr Gonzi manfully stuck with him, confident that, in time, the tandem would evolve into a truly dynamic driving force, and deliver.
It now turns out that the bosses of the MTA itself evidently believe that the Gonzi-Zammit Dimech tandem was worse than worthless, and presided over a calamitous decline that called for a saving force, a truly powerful force that would be justified in demanding more power.
That became clear from the Opinion piece in The Times, penned by no other than Messrs Sam and David Mifsud, newest non-executive chairman and chief executive officer of the MTA. They took it upon themselves - felt it was their duty, actually - to tell anyone who cared to read them what they had achieved "after six months at the helm of the Malta Tourism Authority".
Had the article been written so that its authors could express their detached opinion of the Gonzi-Zammit Dimech tandem, they would have exposed themselves to the charge of being sycophants of the worst order. As it is, they definitely are not. The tandem they speak of is nobody but themselves, a variation of the lyrics by NEK for their hit song Due come noi.
Sam Mifsud and David Mifsud very obviously do not believe that self-praise is no recommendation, even if, quite evidently, their objective in writing in the media was to make it clear that, in their calculated opinion, they had inherited a bundle of messed-up policies and decisions.
Minister Zammit Dimech, the man responsible for many of those policies and decisions at quite less than arm's length, is unlikely to react to the implied criticism. Particularly so if the article was referred to him before it was submitted to The Times and, tongue-tied as he must have become when he read it, nodded his silent clearance as he would have caused a rumpus had he blocked it. The MTA chair and CEO, therefore, went ahead to detail "the initiatives and changes that have been set in motion" by the "MTA's new leadership almost immediately after taking office."
The backhanded slap on the Tourism Ministry's politico-bureaucratic face was particularly evident when the two Mifsuds mentioned the ministry by name. "Together with the Ministry for Tourism and Culture," they wrote, " the MTA was instrumental in the formulation of the Tourism Plan for Malta and Gozo, launched recently..." One had been led to believe, by the minister and his ministry, that the plan was being formulated well before the "new leadership" became the self-proclaimed driving force.
The force also implicitly claimed credit for the increase in arrivals over the November-February period relative to a year previously. Translated, that means the new leaders who, they remind readers, took over in September, managed to turn the tide within weeks.
A bit of self-praise may be inevitable at times, and in essence it is good practice for the MTA to keep the tourism industry and the public informed of what is going on. But the degree to which one lauds the self can become almost ridiculous. It is important that the MTA is well led and for it to be much more than merely an extension of the Ministry for Tourism.
Those who are responsible for managing it have to be given time and space to implement policies, as well as to contribute towards their development. It would be a pitiful waste if they were to fill too much of that time and space with bombast.