More Maltese cuisine please – de Marco

Tourists visit Malta looking for authentic, local cuisine, but they are not being catered for, Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco has warned restaurateurs.

There are no exact statistics on the number of restaurants serving Maltese fare, but going by the Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants, Dr de Marco indicated 22 – a “worrying” figure when considering there are over 1,200 licensed establishments and 55 Chinese restaurants.

Addressing the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association seminar at the Corinthia Palace Hotel, he told restaurateurs they were not realising the potential and importance of traditional food.

He conceded that schemes were needed to encourage the industry to be innovative and develop local cuisine, but urged restaurateurs to rise to the challenge of “revolutionising” traditional dishes to improve the standard.

They should consider their menus in the light of the culinary experiences they themselves sought when on holiday, he said, insisting that eating out was not a secondary experience for tourists, and that independent travellers – the majority these days – were keen on authentic cuisine, part of the culture.

Dr de Marco expressed the concern that many Institute of Tourism Studies students were gaining work experience in the UK and not in other countries that represented the profile of tourists visiting Malta.

He doubted how much restaurateurs knew their foreign clients, describing today’s tourists as “different from yesterday and more discerning”.

Dr de Marco was worried they have not realised the market has changed, questioning how many restaurants that catered for foreigners were considering their origin and studying the arrivals statistics that showed the tourists of three years ago were not the same as today’s.

The UK was the primary market, but second were the Italians – not Germans – and these had different tastes, which could not be addressed by simply translating menus. Instead, he urged, an effort had to be made to learn their eating habits.

“We have 60,000 Spanish visitors, who do not eat before 10 p.m., and we tell them: kitchen closed! We need to adapt, and if we are rigid, we are basically telling them not to come back!”

The case for adapting to tourists’ needs comes from the statistics: restaurants seem to have taken a substantial share of a €180 million increase in spending seen in the first 10 months of this year.

The €1 billion spent by tourists during this period marked a growth of €180 million over the same period last year, and the category that includes restaurants marked the largest increase of over €90 million.

“I do not think all that went to museums and excursions, which means there is work for those who want it,” Dr de Marco said.

However, he also expressed concern about the fall in positive ratings on value for money and variety over previous years, according to recent satisfaction surveys.

Adapting to changes in tourism was not a choice, but essential for the sector to advance, he insisted.

The association has launched the MHRA Recommended scheme for restaurants to help raise standards in what was considered a vital area.

The voluntary scheme asks restaurateurs to undergo an assessment, and the label achieved once the “test” is passed would place the establishment “a cut above the rest”.

MHRA president George Micallef expressed concern about the negative public perception of value for money in restaurants, saying it needed to be addressed.

Growing competition, decreasing profitability and the increase in operating costs were the challenges for the catering sector, which depended largely on weekend business.

Listing its weaknesses, Mr Micallef mentioned the British influence in the cuisine; the fact that service was not consistently good; and the lack of use of IT.

Statistical information to take precise decisions was insufficient and policy direction for the sector was also lacking, he said.