Harm to tourism just cannot be undone (1)

Transport Malta has announced the changes that are planned for the existing bus routes which have brought havoc to the lives of many thousands of commuters, locals and foreign alike. Ironically, the great majority of the “new” routes announced are not new at all. They are the old routes that Minister Austin Gatt and his coterie at Transport Malta, in their infinite wisdom, chose to change to supposedly bring about a “much-needed revolution” to public transport in Malta!

Indeed, they succeeded in bringing about “a revolution” but not the one predicted by our arrogant minister. It is this “revolution” by suffering commuters that is bringing the change to routes just announced! While I am sure that everybody hopes that finally the Arriva fiasco comes to an end, the harm done to tourism cannot be undone just by announcing a reversal to the old routes. The many thousands of tourists who were forced to wait under a scorching sun for hours will not easily forget their extremely unpleasant experience. And worse. The harm done when prospective tourists hear of these experiences from their friends and relatives will certainly have a negative effect on Malta’s image.

While Maltese and other local residents can only “like it or lump it”, no one can force tourists to do likewise. They will just skip Malta when they make their holiday plans! More so if they become aware of Dr Gatt’s comment, namely, that “tourists who cannot afford to pay the higher fares for tourists can stay away”! “Arrogant” is a very mild word to describe this minister!