Tourism is key to Malta’s economic survival and the country has a vested interest in ensuring that policies at European level that have a bearing on tourism are properly coordinated and implemented.
Tourism should take a more prominent role in the EU’s agenda...- Joseph Cuschieri
I welcome the announcements by the European Commission outlining major tourism-related initiatives to be implemented in close cooperation with national and local public authorities and also with tourism associations and other public and private tourism stakeholders. I strongly believe that this should include action to support islands such as Malta and the Mediterranean as a region that is one of the most popular international tourist destinations.
The renewed EU tourism policy, which sets priorities to help the European tourism industry face the challenges and, thus, create more jobs through the sustainable growth of tourism in Europe, should be strengthened. Tourism should take a more prominent role in the EU’s agenda, especially since the Lisbon Treaty now acknowledges its importance by outlining a specific competence for the EU in this field.
Given that tourism is a major industry in Malta with very high intensity when compared to the rest of the EU and with thousands of employees depending on the success of this sector, the island stands to gain from action at the European level. I will do my best, as a member of the European Parliament, to promote and support any action or policy that can enhance the tourism product in our region.
At the same time, I must express my concern about the fate of Malta’s national airline, Air Malta, and the implications on the Maltese tourism industry of announcement 2012/C 50/04 published in the EU’s official journal. This announcement analysed state aid given to the national airline, namely, the capital injection of €130 million.
Air Malta would have to miss out on profitable routes, relinquish key slots in other airports and reduce capacity by 20 per cent to the detriment of the travel and tourism industry. The Commission’s announcement provides for a reduction of staff at Air Malta, which is undoubtedly a distressing scenario.
Stakeholders in the industry as well as employees are deeply concerned about the prevailing situation.
During a recent visit to Malta, the current Vice-President of the European Commission, Antonio Tajani made a number of statements with which I agreed. These included the need for a greater drive towards increasing quality and innovation in the tourism sector and to facilitate the influx of more tourists to Europe from countries such as Brazil, Russia and China by softening the Schengen rules regarding the issuing of visas.
On the other hand, I strongly disagree with the view Dr Tajani expressed during a debate organised by the Malta Business Bureau that the national airline should be privatised.
In my opinion, Air Malta is a unique and central pillar in Malta’s economy and, from a strategic perspective, I cannot imagine a situation where a Mediterranean island that depends heavily on tourism could be forced to rely on the services of low-cost carriers and airlines that are not necessarily concerned with the strategic needs of the Maltese islands.
Even key stakeholders, such as the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, are insisting that Air Malta should remain the national airline and should not be fully privatised. Privatisation would be detrimental to Maltese tourism and would have serious economic consequences for Malta, including loss of jobs directly and indirectly. This is a very disquieting situation indeed.
Having said that, the European Commission’s initiative for a European Charter for Sustainable and Responsible Tourism is an important one. My office is supporting the stakeholder consultation being held by the Tourism Policy Development Unit for a draft charter. I am consulting a number of constituted bodies with a view to compiling a report of views and ideas that will then be submitted to the Commission in April.
These will, among other things, be the subject of a discussion I intend to have with Dr Tajani later this spring. This would certainly be a good opportunity to touch base with him regarding the Commission’s ongoing and planned initiatives in the sector. We can also exchange views on how best to promote the development of sustainable, responsible and high quality tourism and on how European tourism can become more competitive.
joseph.cuschieri@europarl.europa.eu
The author is a Labour member of the European Parliament and sits on the EP’s Transport and Tourism Committee.