Even tourism destinations have their own lifecycle. They are born, develop, mature and die unless they regenerate themselves. In the past 15 years many tourism destinations around the Mediterranean, born over 40 years ago to cater for package holiday-makers, mainly British, faced terminal decline as tourists changed.

What they looked for was not satisfied any more by the mass tourism offer. Airlines changed and low-cost carriers together with the Internet revolutionised travel and tourism. Destinations are always the last to change, since changing them is a slow process, which involves investing a lot of money and having to go through the slow process of public decision-making. The change process is held back by mindsets geared towards the past and not the future.

Declining resorts suffer from a failure to reinvest in their product. Their infrastructure is decaying and cannot evolve to accommodate the demands of today's tourists. They suffer from the lack of awareness of the need to change to counter the appeal of newer and fresher overseas destinations and to meet tourists' changing expectations.

Regenerating a destination is complex and difficult, but possible. In the past 15 years, declining destinations in Spain, France, Greece and Italy, to name a few, have regenerated and reinvented themselves, so tourists are now going back. Tourists are now rediscovering them and destinations are providing tourists with the experience that they are looking for. After all, if a destination is to survive and prosper, it must find ways in which it can once again become internationally competitive.

Destination consultant Sean Young says: "The fundamental questions that need to be addressed are: 'How can this resort work as a consumer proposition?' and 'How can it be branded for success?' People make destinations - the people who conceive them, the people who develop them, the people who manage them but, above all, the people who consume their products. In a successful destination, the product on offer is experience itself. In the experience, economy destinations must constantly reinvent themselves to encourage repeat visits and survival. Successful destinations of whatever size sell expectations, experiences and memories to individual consumers."

James Whelan, who led the regeneration of Atlantic City as mayor, identifies four basic ingredients for success:

• don't be afraid to try something radically new;
• work closely with the private sector at the earliest opportunity;
• use your traditional brand strengths to your advantage; and
• always look to maintain your critical mass and forward momentum.

Working hand in hand

The Labour Party spent six weeks in intensive meetings with tourism entrepreneurs of the area of Bugibba, Qawra, St Paul's Bay and Xemxija, where a third of our tourism industry is concentrated and where business has declined sharply and hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and other tourism service providers have been struggling to survive. We discussed with them and with their organisations with an open mind, trying to identify problems and solutions.

We met and received proposals from the joint committee for the area set up by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the St Paul's Bay Bars and Restaurants' Association, the General Retailers and Traders' Union, the Malta Employers' Association, General Workers Union, Union Haddiema Maghqudin and individuals involved in the diving, waters sports and retail sectors. The process of talking and working with all these individuals and organisations will go on as tourism is dynamic.

Some of the major problems hitting the St Paul's Bay area resort have to be tackled at a national level. These problems identified by the last World Economic Forum report on tourism in 124 countries are damaging Malta's competitiveness in price and product. The Labour Party will create a better economic environment for tourism operators by lowering taxes that are making Malta less competitive when compared to other destinations, cutting the water and electricity surcharge by half, reviewing all those rules and regulations that shackle our competitiveness, and by launching public and private partnerships to make our country look better and more interesting.

The Labour Party in government will be setting up a task force led by the Prime Minister and made up of entrepreneurs, business organisations, unions and representatives of civil society to formulate and implement a regeneration plan for St Paul's Bay.

The general outlines of this plan have already emerged through the wide and deep consultation process we have held in the area:

• The setting up of a tourism zone management committee, with its own resources and executive powers, to administer the maintenance, upkeep and cleanliness, waste management, and development of public facilities in the area. This committee will work hand in hand with the local council to safeguard the welfare of the local residents;

• Proper regulations will be introduced and enforced to ensure that construction works do not disturb tourists, residents and the business community in the area;

• Creating fiscal incentives for those owners of existing hotels who demolish their establishment to build new hotels, more adapted to the needs of tourists today;

• A number of sites will be identified and passed on to entrepreneurs to build hotels and other tourism projects;

• Investors who engage in projects aimed at improving the quality of the existing facilities, at introducing new services that provide a wider selection of tourism products in the area, or at making creative use of the area's natural, historical and cultural resources will be encouraged with fiscal incentives;

• Owners of apartments in the area will be able to benefit from a scheme that assists them in turning their properties into self-catering units for tourists;

• Address the seasonality problem by launching an extensive marketing campaign in Northern European countries to encourage elderly persons in these countries to avoid the cold weather back home and spend winter in the Bugibba, St Paul's Bay, Qawra and Xemxija area;

• Work out a scheme for Maltese elderly persons interested in spending a winter break in a hotel in this area. Such a scheme will be organised by Government in collaboration with the private sector;

• A number of incentives will be offered for investment aimed at upgrading and enhancing the coast in the area. Such incentives will be targeted at those who invest in new sandy beaches for Maltese and tourists, the building of a large yacht marina on Blue Flag criteria, and other maritime facilities, such as a marine adventure park. This benefit will also be offered to investments in improved diving facilities, and the creation of more underwater wrecks to serve as an attraction to divers in areas where fishing will not be permitted. Fish farms will be moved to at least 1.5 km away from the coast;

• A car park with 3,000 spaces will be built in Bugibba, along with other smaller car parks in other locations in the area. Such projects will be undertaken by Government and the private sector. Labour will also encourage the use of park and ride schemes to decrease traffic congestion in the central zones of the area. More pedestrian zones will be created;

• A Labour government will also build a new bus terminus in the area, and upgrade the current public transport services to provide tourists with easier access to and from other parts of the island;

• Labour will embark on a branding exercise to establish the new identity of this area characterised by diversity. This will be based on the variety of attractions that this destination can offer to other Maltese residents and tourists, and will include aspects such as the shipwreck of St Paul and the strong Pauline tradition in the area, a better use of the natural, historical and cultural heritage spread across the area, from Xemxija to Burmarrad, from Qawra to Wardija, and of the traditional fishing and agricultural sectors in the area; and

• All employees involved in the tourism sector will be offered training programmes, which will also be aimed at instilling the new identity of the area, as promoted by the branding exercise

It will be difficult to regenerate the area, but it can be done if we show vision, political will and be ready to work hard and smart to make it happen. Most of all, we need to think and act strategically. The short-termism of politicians whose horizon does not extend beyond the next election, and the quick fix mentality of tourism entrepreneurs who use all their energy in their day-to-day struggles to make ends meet, are definitely not the way forward.

We need to think long term and act strategically.