Urgent action needed for tourism

What a pity that the government has not yet realised that some issues have now become so important that they cannot be taken as part of the party political ball game anymore. The government seems to be still oblivious to the fact that so many Maltese people nowadays have made tremendous progress as to their knowledge and awareness of not only what goes around them but also to the meaning of lots of what we politicians say and do.

That is why Mario de Marco's reply to my article - Action, Not Words, (September 10) - in a letter entitled Action In Tourism (September 13), can only be considered as a partisan attempt to camouflage the government's incompetence in implementing the necessary policies with regard to tourism and the environment.

I am surprised that Dr de Marco is happy to give a simplistic interpretation of the benchmarking exercise that the World Economic Forum (the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, Balancing Economic Development And Environmental Sustainability) has conducted for 130 countries including Malta. This report is a 14 pillar exercise that compares these main tourist destinations around the world.

Dr de Marco has chosen to gloss over the details and justify his position by looking at Malta's average ranking, ignoring the details of such a weighty report. Anyone who analyses Malta's strengths and weaknesses in the tourism sector would, and should, be shocked at this apparent cavalier attitude .

Is Dr de Marco glossing over such details as, for example, the fact that Malta ranks in the: 100th position with regard to price competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry; 106th position for ticket and departure taxes and airport charges; 104th position for fuel price levels; 91st position for purchasing power parity and 65th position for extent and effect of taxation.

With regard to environmental sustainability, Malta ranks in the 84th position, especially regarding carbon dioxide emissions; in 72nd position for enforcement of environmental regulations; in 69th position for sustainability of travel and tourism industry development and in 62nd position for stringency of environmental regulation.

These are just two of the 14 pillar benchmarking exercise by WEF, published in June this year.

Dr de Marco seems to forget that his is a government of 20 years and not of six months. If I were in his place I would definitely be facing the situation with tangible actions and plans and not with more words and talk of future initiatives!

Having said all this, I reiterate that the Malta Labour Party is eager to see effective action from the government in order to remedy the damage that was done during years of incompetence, particularly due to lack of foresight and holistic planning. The MLP has always placed tourism on the front burner and devoted time and action as necessary.

Tourism is a dynamic industry. It needs the necessary political will to match up with the determination and hard work of all those in the industry to secure it on a sustainable and competitive platform.