Malta pricing itself out of world tourist market

Malta has dropped four places on the World Economic Forum's competitive tourism list due in particular to poor results in price competitiveness.

Malta slid from 25th to 29th place in global ranking, according to the third annual Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index 2009, covering 133 countries around the world.

For price competitiveness, Malta ranked 122 out of 133 countries, and claimed last place in purchasing power parity (PPP), which compares the price of goods and services, more or less, to other countries.

This year's report, entitled 'Managing in a Time of Turbulence', is based on three broad categories that facilitate or drive travel and tourism competitiveness: the regulatory framework; business environment and infrastructure; and human, cultural, and natural resources. Malta ranked 11, 31, and 52 respectively.

Speaking about Malta's reduced competitiveness in the travel and tourism sector, a spokesman for the Malta Tourism Authority said: "While, admittedly, Malta has slipped from 25th place in 2008 to 29th place in 2009, last year's index was from a total of 130 countries whereas this year's index has increased to 133 countries."

The new competition came from the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Malawi that were not considered in last year's index.

In defence of Malta's ranking, the MTA said: "If one takes the top ranking countries, one realises that their tourism offer is very different to ours and different to most of our direct competitors such as Slovenia, Israel, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Italy ranked at the lower end of the PPP index."

One of the top ranking countries in the PPP index was Egypt in 4th place, a country that also attracts tourists seeking sun and sea.

Those countries, described as Malta's "immediate competitors", still fared better, with an average 25 point lead in PPP ranking.

While acknowledging the result, the MTA insisted the index did not include the value for money factor, though it reiterated the need for tourism operators to offer good value. On a few points Malta was listed among the global elite, while on many others it hovered in the bottom half of the list, at times even scraping the bottom.

The only category where Malta ranked among the top three is health and hygiene. In the category of natural resources, Malta's placed last.

While Malta fared well in the regulatory framework for the travel and tourism industry, it ranked poorly on transparency of government policy making, openness of bilateral air service agreements and visa requirements.

Safety and security ranked high, achieving 11th place, although the lack of reliability of police services reduced Malta's ranking in this category.

Malta did well on government expenditure and prioritisation of the travel and tourism industry, but suffered when it came to the effectiveness of marketing and branding and trade fair attendance.

Ticket taxes and airport charges were at the higher end of the market - 89th place. Malta's fuel price levels were also above average, acquiring a ranking of 106 in the index. On the overall extent and effect of taxation, Malta ranked 48.

On ground transport infrastructure, Malta's poor quality of roads reflected on the quality of the tourism product, while the public transport system took Malta to the lower rungs of the global ranking. However, Malta placed top for road safety.

Malta's ranking was poor on every level within the environmental category, from stringency of environmental regulation to enforcement to carbon dioxide emissions.

The report concludes that Switzerland, Austria and Germany have the most attractive environments for developing the travel and tourism industry. France, Canada, Spain, Sweden, the US, Australia and Singapore complete the top 10.