There can be very little doubt that the weeks and months ahead will be tough for those whose task it is to keep tourists coming to Malta. As the Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism rightly noted last week, the buck does not only stop with the government, even if the tourism authorities will always have a lot to answer for. Thus, if the tourism industry is at least to keep its head above water, it is not only imperative that all stakeholders give their fair share but also that no niche is overlooked.
Take filming and film tourism, which the government, the Malta Tourism Authority and the Malta Film Commission must certainly acknowledge constitute a specific market niche that, if developed, could contribute significantly to economic growth.
In 1999, the then Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Services, George Hyzler, had set up the Malta Film Commission, which had attracted a string of successful films that came to shoot here. The MTA last year launched the Film Tourism Marketing Support & Development Department, which focused on attracting television productions that would, in the process, give maximum exposure to Malta. This initiative was a success as the MTA offered fiscal incentives to a number of productions and, in fact, quite a few productions were filmed on the island last year, including three episodes of the popular Coronation Street, with an audience of 10 million per episode in the UK, and two episodes of Carabinieri 7 (Missione Speciale) that has an audience of seven million in Italy.
In the past, there have been many TV series that have done wonders for the country/locality they were filmed in. For instance, Carabinieri 6 used to be filmed in Città della Pieve in Umbria. The producers have now moved to Montepuliciano with incredible effects on the tourism industry of the town.
Bergerac did wonders for the island of Jersey and ran on the BBC for 10 years and was also shown in 24 different countries.
Bay Watch was watched by over 1.1 billion viewers and also ran for 10 years. The state of Hawaii, realising the importance of film-tourism, offered the producers $3 million to start a new series entitled Bay Watch Hawaii.
Las Vegas is an American TV series that was screened on NBC for five years. The show focuses on a team of people working in the fictional Montecito Resort and Casino in Las Vegas dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and restaurant management to casino security. Although the state of Nevada does not need advertising for this busy resort, the state still funded a big part of the budget for the episodes in order to enhance their brand name, which is basically the city of Vegas itself.
Film tourism is gaining momentum all over the world. Scores of visitors want to visit film sets as they are genuinely interested in film production besides typical die-hard fans who also want to buy all the memorabilia. Following the shooting of three episode of Coronation Street at a hotel in Gozo, the production company received over 1,000 enquires from viewers to find out where the hotel is situated!
The locations in Malta are stunning, whether the productions are destined for the cinema or television. They can and do bring the location's beauty featured on the screens into people's homes. This is a most effective way of promoting the Maltese islands.