Upmarket tourism is possibly one of the most misused terms that one finds in any strategic document mapping out the future direction of this important industry. The size of our islands combined with one of the densest populations in Europe presents policymakers with formidable challenges to project Malta as a unique quality holiday destination for travellers.
The need to attract more affluent visitors first started to the felt in the late 1980s when it became evident that the ‘bucket and spade’ sun seekers from the UK were not going to justify the heavy investment that local entrepreneurs were making in the hotel industry.
The industry diversified and the number of visitors from different European countries continued to increase initially breaking the psychological barrier of one million while, today, the number of tourists has reached 1.7 million. Is there a limit to this growth?
There certainly is a physical limit to the number of beds the country can provide at any one time to those who decide to visit us. According to George Cassar, a senior lecturer at the University’s Institute for Tourism, “Malta is nearing its tourist saturation point and should stop pushing for numbers but start looking for quality tourists”.
He is not the only one. Corinthia’s visionary head, Alfred Pisani, has also called for a concerted effort to raise the island’s standards that ranges from better cleanliness to roads that are worthy of a top class destination.
The Tourism Minister has refuted claims that the tourism sector has reached saturation point saying that “we have more to add and where to increase our capacity”. So should we rely on the minister’s optimistic outlook or the more sober assessment of industry operators who face falling returns on their investment and look for more sustainable tactics to upgrade the product?
Some hoteliers are keen to build more five- and six-star hotels to attract better quality tourists. They are urging the government to play a part: provide them with low-cost land to build their hotels on, train students in tourism studies until they employ them and take care of the urban and rural environment to make our islands look more attractive to visitors. Other hoteliers fret that a change in strategy to attract quality tourists will mean that “the country will risk losing its core markets”.
If the use of the term ‘upmarket tourism’ has been abused, so has the use of ‘niche markets’.
Many argue that every country that has an important tourism industry is aiming to have niche markets. So niche tourism markets become a common target for competing countries.
Almost by definition the better quality tourists who have more spending power will generally not want to share the same facilities with mass market visitors. This is not so much a sign of snobbery but a reasonable expectation for people who decide what level of facilities they are prepared to pay for with their hard-earned cash.
Many objective observers of our tourism industry fret about the silo mentality that seems to prevail among operators in this industry. The dynamics that affect this industry are often complex. Geopolitical unrest in our region, for instance, can destroy the hard work of thousand of industry leaders.
Debating what needs to be done to improve the product that we offer to our visitors is of course useful but it needs to be followed up with a steely determination to do what it takes to implement tough action plans.