A bumper tourist season

Hotels: Everyone Is Full, The Times reported on August 17. Best year in six for tourism, both in numbers and income, the figures say. Increasing numbers of tourists and better hotel occupancy, says MHRA. The bumper tourist season we're experiencing is evident. And it's widespread, MHRA notes, with Bugibba, Qawra and Gozo feeling good as well.

What a difference from a few weeks back. Then it was all doom and gloom. The summer was going to be horrible and the minister's resignation was called for. The media were all agog. If it's bad, then it must be government's fault, went the usual superficial argument.

Now it's all sweetness and light, yet we still have the same minister. Were the negative forecasts terribly wrong? Were the calls for the minister's resignation dreadfully misguided? If not, then Minister Francis Zammit Dimech must have waved his magic wand and suddenly snatched a bumper tourist season from the jaws of pre-announced catastrophe.

As usual in Malta, if we think it's going to be bad, then it must be the government's fault and the government (i.e. the taxpayer) must do something about it; but if we're doing well, then it must be due to us. More realistically, however, tourism is the prime sector in which individual greed can easily undo the collective good. The government has been doing more than its fair share for tourism. Decisions taken by Minister Zammit Dimech have very definitely helped, as well as new directions at Air Malta and the Malta Tourist Authority, together with the many projects that have changed the way Malta looks from Birzebbuga to Gozo. The Malta Hotels and Restaurants' Association did its part too.

Now let's make sure we don't lose this momentum. We may never have a second chance to make a first impression. If a tourist's first impression of Malta is service with a sulk, overcharging and shabby establishments, then we would be beyond salvation. Unfortunately, it's not the minister who serves a tourist's meal, sets prices or decides how establishments look. Neither can the government legislate style, smiles or prices, even though it can and should legislate and act for better cleanliness and upkeep all over the islands.

Operators in the tourist and leisure industry are the biggest determinant of their own success if they think collectively and long term. And we Maltese and Gozitans in general also have a role to play in showing ourselves and our islands to the best of our potential.

On a European and world level, we do not really compete at the top level in any sport or cultural pursuit. In many a sporting pursuit, our small size comes in the way of good results. At the Eurovision song contest (which serves as a good promotion for Malta), we did achieve good results a few times, but lately our participation has generated more heat than light. It was, therefore, with a good degree of surprise to learn that there is actually a pursuit in which one team from Malta did compete and win against European and international competition abroad. This was in unfashionable fireworks.

The Saint Mary fireworks group of Mqabba has recently competed in a renowned international fireworks competitions in Rome known as Caput Lucis - capital of light, in Latin - and won against fireworks companies from countries the likes of Italy, England, Spain, Japan and China.

Fireworks enthusiasts have a bad press in Malta. It's an evidently risky pursuit and in some cases it can be a noisy irritant. But fireworks are not all negative. They do attract huge crowds. The Caput Lucis competition is said to have attracted half a million people over five days. The displays organised by some fireworks groups in Malta can be appealing for tourists and locals alike and the shows put up by the Saint Mary group of Mqabba have beaten foreign competition abroad. Congratulations are very definitely in order.

eddiea@onvol.net