Tourism is a major economic motor for most of Europe, so it is hardly surprising that the European Union, mainly through its Tourism and Transport Committee, of which I have been a member since my rather belated accession to the European Parliament, has been seeking ways and means to improve the industry for both its many new and established entrepreneurs and their employees as well as for the average traveller.
A sensitive industry such as tourism needs to be handled with care
In so doing, however, it continues to ensure that European tourism is given a human face to complement its undoubted dynamism. By giving passengers all over the EU the right to fair treatment whenever they are travelling by coach, train, ship, aeroplane and other means. By making sure that employees in all grades within the industry enjoy the right conditions and receive the right payments.
The work undertaken by the Tourism and Transport Committee is bound to also have a positive impact on the tourism sector in Malta.
Incoming and outgoing tourism on the island has, happily, overcome the trials and tribulations of a few years ago and it is now in our national interest to regularly watch out for any new changes and developments that may occur and which may prove to be harmful to the industry.
It is also my duty to remain on the lookout and to consult the Maltese stakeholders whenever things do not fit in well with their aspirations and with the special needs of a small island whose tourism industry depends strictly on aerial and maritime means of transport.
While fully subscribing to the EU’s relentless push for better rights for passengers, we also have to see that this is not achieved to the detriment of the workers in the tourism sector. Once the right balance is found, things can only get better but each and every member state, including, of course, Malta, also needs to put its own house in order.
As the General Workers’ Union has been insisting for too long a time now, precarious work in the tourism sector is gradually threatening the very foundations of workers’ rights and conditions. This is a source of major concern for many MEPs within the Socialist and Democrat Group of the European Parliament because the problem is, of course, not resticted to Malta.
A sensitive industry such as tourism needs to be handled with care by one and all. Governments cannot be left to make short-term gains by turning a blind eye to precarious employment in the industry. By ensuring that rights and conditions remain untouched and unabused, there are long-term benefits to be gained.
Precarious employment by the minority is damaging the industry because it undermines the great work being done by a majority of stakeholders who go by the book and ensure that they respect the law of the land.
Human resources within the tourism industry are as precious as the very attractions that help sustain it in the first place. People visit places of cultural and historical interest and people seek the sun and the sea. However, they also expect to get the best services possible and these services can only be provided by well-trained, professional employees who enjoy the best possible working conditions, are accorded their legal rights and feel trusted and motivated in their jobs.
Precarious employment certainly does not offer any of that.
It is merely abusing the system and ubdermining all the good work that has been achieved over many decades.
Success in tourism cannot be gauged solely by numbers. The industry has to be alert to all kinds of threats from that same minority that seeks instant profits by unjustly and illicitly exploiting the desperate job-seekers, be they immigrant or local. It is why we have to be constantly on our toes vis-a-vis these practices which, unfortunately, have also been slowly contaminating the tourism sector in Malta.
It is my view that some sort of regulatory body, national or EU-berthed, has to be set up, not to police the industry but to take on the few perpetrators before their actions and misdeeds can do any more serious damage.
Those many genuine entrepreneurs and stakeholders who play fair and their legally-employed, fairly remunerated employees deserve every protection we can give them.
Despite the current economic blues, European tourism can do much better with a human face and a happy one at that.
joseph@josephcuschieri.com
Joseph Cuschieri is a Labour MEP.