Cruise tourism is good financial news for visiting countries, according to the recent report Contribution Of Cruise Tourism To The Economies Of Europe, published by the European Cruise Council.
Demand for cruising holidays is increasing. More than 3.6 million passengers embarked on a cruise from a European port in 2006, a 27 per cent increase over the previous year. Over 80 per cent of these were European nationals. The vast majority of such cruises visited ports in the Mediterranean, the Baltic and other European regions, generating 15.2 million passenger visits at European port cities, a 21 per cent increase over 2005.
The report goes on to show that the cruise industry generated an estimated €10.6 billion in direct spending by cruise liners and their passengers throughout Europe in 2006 and 225,586 full-time equivalent jobs. At least 107,780 of these were directly connected to cruise tourism, including port services and cruise industry employment, transportation of cruise passengers, travel agent commissions, spending for tours before and after cruise stays in European port cities, passenger retail spending and purchases of supplies by the cruise lines from European businesses.
Malta is, of course, part of this scenario and, as such, needs to feed the industry the right formula in order to grow into a successful performer in a sustainable manner. In 2006, the cruise industry left the country with €77 million in total compensation impacts, accounting for one per cent of the total European impact. This is quite an achievement in itself when considering that, unlike its neighbours, Malta is a single-port country and, primarily, a destination market.
This year, Viset Malta plc, developers and operators of the Valletta Cruise Terminal and the Valletta Waterfront, is envisaging that the Port of Valletta would receive a record-breaking half a million cruise passengers.
Increasing Malta's share of this growing global industry requires a holistic approach. A number of challenges have been identified as needing to be overcome if cruise tourism is to stay on top of the game. And the common thread among these challenges is one: Effective human resources management.
Malta's success relies strictly on the country's human resources, from the management of all the players in the sector to the package the islands offer in terms of product and service from the moment the liner's gangway is hauled out to the last memories passengers take with them as they sail out of our majestic Grand Harbour. The benefit? Apart from the direct economic impact, we have the opportunity of giving the best possible one-day experience of Malta to half a million cruise passengers annually and motivate them to come back to the Maltese islands on a full holiday. Only in this manner can we ensure the long-term sustainable growth of cruise tourism... not to mention the gains that mainstream tourism also stands to make.
However, in order to reach this aim, traditional practices and mentalities of the type "that's how we have always done things" need to be turned upside down to reflect the new requirements of this modern, and continuously evolving, industry. We need to go beyond changing current practices to a complete cultural change.
To implement a strategy that exploits these opportunities one needs a motivated mentality to do things passionately as they should be. Formal education, even in the recreational industry, needs to be integrated within a context of professional development and learning opportunities.
Unless our human resources and labour practices reach every individual's potential to do what they love, enjoy and are strong at doing rather than what an organisation tries to make them be, our product remains a half-baked solution to a hunger pang. While the cruise industry calls for tender loving care (TLC).
Mr Giordimaina is marketing executive at Viset Malta plc.