I returned home on September 6 after a fantastic 10 days in Malta on holiday with my wife.
On the plane I enjoyed reading The Times, getting a little below the skin of Maltese life for real, and noticed several articles about tourism and especially a letter from Mark Galea.
This prompted me to offer a few of our own thoughts following our first trip to Malta.
Having lived in Cornwall for 10 years I know something of the tension between residents and their needs and the need to attract tourists. Cornwall is a small county that receives millions of visitors every year and they are a vital part of their economy. If the “locals” feel they are getting a raw deal they can in turn become hostile towards tourists and visitors; a balance needs to be carefully weighed.
As for Malta, the buses are great but I wonder if passes for a day or longer might be a good idea – they save fiddling around looking for change.
One Sunday we paid a visit to St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Valletta and joined them for Mass (highly recommended for Church of England tourists). Afterwards we wanted to find some other information but found the Tourist Information Office closed, and the city was bustling with tourists! On another occasion we went into another Tourist Information Office close to closing time – and we knew it was closing time as the young lady gave us no greeting but bustled round turning off lights and fans.
We had a similar experience in St John’s Co-Cathedral and at the time of closing were fairly cast out with undue haste. Churches really ought to try and learn the art of turning tourists into pilgrims and realising that a vast number of tourists are not Christians.
We also found this “undue haste” when returning and wanting to spend an hour on the beach to relax and cool off after being out for the day. Shortly after 5 p.m. on Mellieħa beach “scoopers” start to collect the loungers and shades as if a war were about to ensue.
After having been on a number of trips and tours we felt confident to hire a car (the Maltese have a poor reputation for bad driving!). Some hints and tips for driving in Malta and Gozo, speed limits, parking and other things to be aware of in a small written guide, perhaps with emergency numbers as well in case of accidents, would have been very helpful.
We also took the car across to Gozo and I know we should have asked at our holiday complex or a Tourist Information Office (when open) but we anticipated finding information about any system of payment for the ferry crossing. We only discovered the cost when we came back at the ticket booth (and had a struggle trying to work out which lane to get into with several choices but no indication which one took you to the next ferry).
We also travelled from Mellieħa by car to the airport and it was very difficult to follow the signs at times and at a crucial junction just before the airport we could not see any sign at all, telling us we needed to turn left. The signs for the airport need to be very clear and stand out from all other signs.
While in Malta, we had some fantastic meals. However, we are both vegetarians and although fish might not be very intelligent they are not vegetables, they are animals! After a while pizza, pasta or a salad becomes not an option but a fait accompli. Having said all of this we had one of the best holidays ever and would highly recommend it to anyone, especially those who like history, art and architecture.
It is a matter of getting the balance right between those who live there and those who come to visit as your guests. Malta does not want to become a mega Disney theme park, but a few more helpful hints, tips and signs here and there would not go amiss.