Politicians just love rolling out figures to substantiate the progress made in their particular fields. In taking the credit, they also often imply that the figures tell the whole story of success. It usually does not and it is refreshing therefore that at least in tourism both the ministry and the tourism authority recognise the fact, as did those who were responsible for tourism before them, that record numbers do not necessarily mean success.
What is unnerving is the long time it is taking Malta to come to grips with a series of complaints tourists keep raising. A new report makes more than 200 recommendations aimed at improving the tourist product, but again it is not numbers that count but how many of the recommendations the country manages to carry out in practice.
It was pointed out at the launching of the report that the idea is to turn the recommendations into an implementation plan. It is easy to produce plans; what usually holds back progress is resistance to change.
Perhaps one of the greatest problems is litter. The country still seems unable to grapple with the problem, with people seemingly unwilling to accept that we have a problem in the first place.
Others take comfort in the fact that other countries are as bad as Malta is when it comes to litter. In truth, compared with the situation years ago, there has been an improvement but the situation is still unsatisfactory.
It is not just the dirt and rubbish that is left behind here and there that gives the island a bad image but the shabbiness as well.
Even Valletta is not up to scratch in this regard, though much has been done to improve the general appearance of the capital.
The approaches to certain beaches in summer is often disgusting. Some places are in need of a facelift badly, however, it looks as if these never appear on the radar screens of the tourism authorities.
According to the report, parking problems, poor signage and the low level of cleanliness are among the negative points mentioned by tourists. Others complain of over-development, bad experiences at the place where they stay, poor transport and, surprisingly, unfriendly locals.
Signage ought not to be a major problem, yet tourists still find it inadequate, which is a shame considering that the country has now been in tourism since the late 1950s. The ridiculous idea to now have place names in Maltese has only made matters more confusing.
Meanwhile, parking in many places, such as Buġibba/St Paul’s Bay, in summer is a nightmare. Maybe someone can think out of the box and come up with some innovative solutions.
Noise is another problem that is often ignored. This is a noisy country, and it looks as if it is becoming noisier. That notwithstanding, this is rarely, if ever, classified as a problem.
Complaints about service in hotels and restaurants come up frequently, but, again, although there has certainly been some improvement, there are some basic complaints that never seem to be tackled.
Outrageous service at table is one of them. Too many waiters show over-familiarity with customers. Others have no clue of proper service. Some, probably engaged for short periods, do not even know what they have on the menu. Some places do not serve wine or beer in the correct glass.
Churning out plans is easily done. It is their implementation that is tricky.