If there is one thing that my delayed yet highly committed experience within the European Parliament has shown me thus far is that Europe thoroughly cherishes its tourism industry. There is hardly one member state that does not consider tourism as a major pillar on which rests, in varying degrees, its national economy, hence, the big interest that permeates every EU and EP initiative on the industry.
Malta is certainly no exception, given our economic dependence on tourism since the successful and historic shift from a fortress island complex to a highly-charged commitment to continued growth in all sectors but specifically in tourism.
It is good to acknowledge the fact that subsequent governments have stuck to that route and we are today in a position where the industry has grown roots as it seeks to venture into new avenues by updating and reinventing itself to cope with new 21st century competition and ever-changing client tastes.
Europe is listening and acting at the same time. My active participation within the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee has helped me fathom the need to ensure that both incoming and outgoing tourism flows have access to improved and regularly-maintained transport systems.
I have personally intervened on the special needs of small, attractive islands in the Mediterranean that depend on better and quicker sea transport and where sustainable infrastructural projects are carried out without disturbing the environment of their natural, cultural and historical attractions.
The Minister for Tourism and his team of tourism leaders, from Gavin Gulia’s Malta Tourism Authority down to the ministries and many departments are doing a sterling job, making sure the good achieved over the past decades is bettered.
Meanwhile, taking new initiatives in a cool and calculated way, aware of the need to protect and maintain what has been enjoyed for centuries.
The private sector rightly expects to have, and is being given, a voice and the space to work
The notion that the success of tourism has to move beyond arrival figures and revenue, as the Tourism Minister told a recent MHRA conference, speaks volumes of the new government’s resolve in this sector.
The private sector is the major stakeholder that rightly expects to have, and is being given, a voice and the space to work in for the betterment of the industry.
The MHRA would be the first to recognise the fact that tourism is a very sensitive and fickle industry. The slightest economic tremor or regional unrest can hit it badly, sometimes temporarily and at other times irreparably.
The private sector involved in the tourism industry in Malta has been a leader, often taking on the competition head-on by being more enterprising, more aggressive and timelier.
It has foreseen events and reacted promptly and it has found the energy and the means to go through lean times without suffering any permanent damage.
It is no magic formula. It is the result of sheer hard work, a determination to succeed and an enterprising spirit without which no commercial venture can succeed. I wish to pay tribute to Tony Zahra who has just stepped down after his highly-successful, highly-committed, two-year term as president of MHRA and, at the same time, welcome Paul Bugeja, the Corinthia Group’s chief financial officer, who has taken over.
I am sure the MHRA will continue to act as a firm and well-meaning beacon of advice and guidance to both its members and the tourism authorities. Bugeja assumes the MHRA presidency at a time when a record winter is being forecast and bolstered by a nine per cent increase in seat capacity.
It is a very effective launching pad, one which he will undoubtedly be able and willing to exploit during his tenure.
He also comes straight into the refreshing idea of a Mediterranean vision for the tourism industry.
It is a vision based on how the coherent regional brands and collaboration of the north could be replicated in the south – certainly a great challenge, given the social and political realities that have to be faced.
One thing is certain, Malta’s tourism industry will continue to find its representatives at the European Parliament ready to contribute and to share in the gradual transformation of the industry against both a European and Mediterranean background.
I certainly speak for the four Labour MEPs who, while making sure the national interest remains top of their agenda, will also continue to back and participate in EU and EP initiatives that aim to consolidate the European tourism industry and fine-tune it into an effective and highly beneficial source of economic growth.
joseph@josephcuschieri.com
Joseph Cuschieri is a Labour MEP.