Small Malta needs to stay beautiful

There is no doubt that tourism is one of the main contributors to Malta's economic well-being, and we should promote it with great care. Hotels and restaurants are an essential element in this sector, and therefore the views expressed at the annual general meeting of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association should be noted.

The impression that I gathered from the press reports on this year's meeting is that all Malta, starting with the government and the Malta Tourism Authority, but with the exception of hotel and restaurant owners, will be to blame if we experience a bleak winter season. It is never a wise policy, and quite often erroneous, to blame everybody else for shortcomings that afflict one. Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco did well to emphasise that it was everyone's task, including hoteliers and restauraters, to make Malta more attractive to tourists, who rightly expect good value for money. Indeed, we should improve Malta's image not only for the sake of tourists. Maltese citizens deserve no less.

I agree with those who stress that Malta's promotion abroad, compared with that of our competitors in the Mediterranean, is far from adequate in volume and content. In my view, the attempt at a new branding exercise was a failure. Let us emphasise the basics, a place where one feels at home and can relax in peace, in good holiday weather and different but pleasant surroundings. Specific interests like history, culture, hiking and diving should also be highlighted.

One aspect of tourism that I have never been able to gauge is whether there is any idea in the tourist industry of the optimum number of tourists that Malta could welcome without tarnishing the very product that we are trying to sell.

It seems that success is measured mainly by an annual increase in the number of tourists that arrive every year, without any limit foreseen. The facts that we cannot ignore are that Malta is small, overcrowded, and steadily becoming overbuilt to the extent that the traditional town/land/sea/scapes are giving way to modern idioms common to many other larger countries. Perhaps we should think more of the saying, "small is beautiful".