If one inspects in detail our Malta Travel and Tourism Services Act, which is Law Chapter 409, it is quickly realised that this law was intended for the old ways of doing tourism without the internet.

What I mean is that for example this law states that an excursion organiser needs to have a physical office displaying the licence issued by the Malta Tourism Authority.

What the law does not realise is that nowadays tourists are searching for unique experiences which are value for money by cutting the middle man and going directly to the tourism service providers.

These service providers do not need a physical office and, after all, why should we destroy the environment to build more offices?

Such tourist service providers are agro farmers, agro shepherds, fishermen, religious and spiritual activities providers, mystic and energy places guides, remote beaches, tour guides, countryside tour guides specialising in wild plants. Such service providers will make tourism more exciting and unique.

They need to be both the excursion operator and the tour guide specialising in their own area.

These are subjects which most of the conventional MTA licensed tour guides are not trained to do. Most tour guides are trained to guide in scheduled areas. Some tourist services such as countryside guiding need a level of fitness, a good knowledge of the local safe paths, safe beaches, local plants, local birds and local legends.

Currently if a farmer has a website offering agro/eco tourism excursions or tours on his farm the MTA enforcement office will come down on him like a ton of bricks unless he has a licensed office accessible to the public that has been approved by Mepa and the MTA and possibly having a licensed tour guide even though the tour guide has no idea about agro tourism.

All this makes the service too expensive not to mention the red tape required to get such a licence. The main question is why does he need a physical office when nowadays most business is conducted online.

Why is the government promoting the building of more offices when the same work can be done online from home? How can these unique services which can create lots of tourism jobs flourish with such old and restricting tourism laws? As Mario de Marco mentioned, we need to offer tourists not just a unique experience but value for money, and he is spot on! We want them to come back for more.

It is time to update this archaic tourism law as soon as possible, not when the whole tourism segment collapses.