Labour leader Joseph Muscat made no apologies yesterday after he called on the tourism authorities to exploit the revolutions in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt.
His comments, made on Sunday during a Labour conference, were denounced by Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and Alternattiva Demokratika and mocked on Facebook where an anonymous satirist juxtaposed violent scenes in North Africa with Visit Malta slogans.
But a spokesman for Dr Muscat said: “The Opposition leader’s comments are aimed at the best interest of our country and we have no apologies to make for putting our families’ interests first.”
On the other hand, Dr Borg slammed the “insensitive and immature” comments which betrayed Dr Muscat’s inexperience.
He said the instability in the region could actually have a negative impact on Malta, though if the developments resulted in democracy, freedom and tolerance, these would be “positive and historic”. Dr Borg added that “our thoughts should not be about how to profit but how to help, without being paternalistic, those countries undergoing reform.”
Meanwhile, Alternattiva Demokratika said linking “turmoil to tourism” was “cynical, silly, disrespectful and shows a lack of political savoir faire”.
AD international spokesman Arnold Cassola said it was unbelievable and shameful for Dr Muscat to only think of exploiting the suffering and misery of Malta’s north African neighbours in the face of historic world-changing events.
Asked for his reaction, Tourism Parliamentary Secretary Mario de Marco pointed towards a misjudgement of the way tourism works.
“Tourism does not flourish through the misfortunes of others but when there is a sense of stability in the region. Instability in the region only means people will think twice before travelling.
“Some might shift plans,” he acknowledged, “but others may just put their plans on hold.”
He added that the Tunisian and Egyptian markets were primarily based on tour operators, so a simple marketing campaign would not leave much of an impact.
“Having said that, we are always in touch with tour operators,” Dr de Marco added, indicating that in some way Malta could already be taking on some packages previously planned for Egypt and Tunisia.
Replying to questions in a radio phone-in early last week, Dr de Marco denied claims Malta was not looking into how to attract tourists who were cancelling holidays to Tunisia.
He said Malta regretted the unrest but said major tour operators had already re-directed three planeloads of tourists to Malta from the UK.