Holiday destination number one

Joseph Muscat spent a good part of his morning last Sunday suggesting we embark on a marketing campaign to promote tourism in Malta and to take advantage of the crisis in North Africa to attract more holidaymakers to our island. All well and good. What’s not right, though, is the fact the Opposition Leader failed to mention the great effort the Parliamentary Secretariat for Tourism, the Malta Tourism Authority and all those concerned are making to promote the country in the most effective way possible. Instead, Dr Muscat embarked on a monologue of how he does not want to and has nothing to learn from Lawrence Gonzi and his Cabinet, this just after he had stressed the importance of being united in promoting our island.

The fact that tourism is the bread and butter of many Maltese families is well known. Many depend directly or indirectly on this sector. This Administration has acknowledged this fact and has invested heavily to attract not only the traditional tourist we were accustomed to. In recent years, we have seen a serious drive to attract tourists who are not normally lured to Malta. In managing to organise mass events like the Isle of MTV we have not only attracted people to Malta but, maybe more importantly, we managed to open a window to show all the millions of MTV channel viewers what we have to offer in terms of entertainment. We are attracting big names to perform here and that is what brings people over to have fun and spend money that, ultimately, goes into our coffers.

It is pretty clear the way we are marketing our island has changed and this was necessary in order to keep up with the emerging markets and new holiday destinations that, until a few years back, were not accessible and are now competing with us.

All those who follow English and Italian football surely cannot miss the strategic advertising that promotes our island. The stadia of football teams like Inter, Portsmouth and Sheffield United are now a showcase that reaches hundreds of thousands. The visitmalta trade mark promotes much more than the sun and the beaches and, rightly so. Because Malta has a lot more to offer, form its rich cultural heritage to diverse and entertaining nightlife.

Until a few years ago we concentrated on only one type of tourist, namely the over-50 couples hailing from the UK or Germany. It is clear now that Malta and Gozo can be a haven for tourists from other age brackets and other nationalities.

Having said that, one cannot leave out the thousands of visiting cruise passengers. The cruise liner industry has boomed and this thanks to the huge investment made to accommodate these ships in state-of-the-art quays. An interesting fact is that a significant number of those who visit Malta on a cruise return to the island for a longer holiday at a later date.

The power of marketing is enormous and these campaigns have resulted in an increase in the number of visitors. However, the best promoters for our island should be the Maltese themselves. First impressions last long and, therefore, it is important to train those who work in the industry and to stress the importance of being courteous and helpful to those visiting us. We all know people speak about their holidays, just like we do with friends and family when we return from abroad and, thus, word of mouth can be a great marketing tool as well.

We sometimes read about tourists who would have visited Malta 10 times or more and this is what we should aim at. We are renowned for our hospitality and if we are able to smooth out some rough edges I am sure the results will be much better.

We have a proactive Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and, together with his team, he is doing a great job to make Malta holiday destination number one. However, they can’t do it alone. Malta and Gozo are not just made of stone and buildings. We are the people tourists meet in the streets, in bars and restaurants and our attitude towards them is very important in order to leave a positive impression.

The author is a Nationalist member of the European Parliament.