Garbage 'at all hours' in Paceville
De Marco says tourism industry should level off by early next year
Paceville needs a centralised rubbish collection system to clean up the "state of chaos" it is in, according to Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco.
As things stand, the local council organises the collection of rubbish only for residents, while commercial outlets have to take care of their own waste. The result is that garbage is being dumped and collected all day long - a situation that Dr de Marco stressed was unacceptable and leading to shabbiness.
He called on the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, and Paceville's commercial operators, to play ball in the issue.
Dr de Marco questioned why they should put out their garbage when they pleased, pointing out that some took it out hours before it was collected. Others even took it out knowing that it would not be collected.
Buġibba and Qawra were also on the agenda and Dr de Marco questioned whether there was a "vision" for the area. "Love it, or hate it, it involves a major investment and its commercial operators cannot remain stuck in a time warp, relying solely on the UK market," he said.
The permit for the development of the St Paul's Bay promenade has just been approved, he said, expressing the belief that the surrounding countryside should be linked up to the whole tourist area, going beyond the mere attraction of the sea.
He also said there was need for an agro-tourism policy to put rural areas on the tourist's map and suggested that village cores and squares should be free from traffic and regenerated.
Dr de Marco was speaking about Tourism: Building a Future in Times of Crisis at a business breakfast at Le Meridien St Julian's Hotel & Spa, organised by The Malta Business Weekly.
The parliamentary secretary predicted that the industry's situation would start "levelling off" from the beginning of next year.
He said the country would emerge from the "cycle", the sooner the better, seeking to dispel panic by saying that performance comparisons to last year had to take into account that 2008 was a record, which other countries had not experienced.
Surveys have shown that business travel would be down by 55 per cent, he said, adding that conferences were not being organised due to perception more than financial problems. Hotels had even received cancellations from clients who had already paid up.
A €300,000 fund has been set up to facilitate the attraction of international conferences by government agencies.
Dr de Marco said seat capacity on inbound flights had been improved to last summer's level, pointing out its direct correlation with tourist numbers.
In fact the 15 per cent decline in arrivals in winter matched exactly the drop in seat capacity for the same months.
Beyond that, he said, discussions with airlines were under way to open more winter routes. If they worked out, seat capacity in the shoulder months should see an increase.