The success of the beach replenishment project in St George’s Bay means that the Malta Tourism Authority and the Tourism Ministry are providing a quality tourism product, said Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech.

Dr Zammit Dimech was launching the Blue Flag status of St George’s Bay and said that this was an example of the environment being managed to ensure that standards were maintained while encouraging recreation.

He said that the Blue Flag Programme was a voluntary certification scheme for beaches and marinas that worked to bring together the tourism and environmental sectors. St George’s Bay was, in fact, the first Maltese beach the MTA has proposed for blue flag

status.

“Following our efforts to ensure that the beach conforms to the Blue Flag criteria, we have been successful in receiving Blue Flag pilot project status,” said Dr Zammit Dimech. “This is the first beach in Malta to be awarded the Blue Flag and we are very proud to confirm that the beach is managed in accordance with the Blue Flag requirements that include stringent criteria in the areas of water quality, cleanliness, safety and management, provision of information and environmental education.”

Referring to environmental education, the minister said Malta had an educational plan that would be implemented over the coming year to educate the public about the beach and its management. He said that activities would include learning all about the beach and the seabed and its eco-community.

“Managing the beach according to the Blue Flag criteria means that the Tourism and Culture Ministry is taking an integrated approach, supplying policies on safety, water quality, environmental education, waste management, the management of nature-based recreation and the siting of tourism facilities, among other issues,” said Dr Zammit Dimech.

He said this project would demonstrate that when a bay was properly managed, recreation could minimise the impact on coastal environments and instigate a move towards sustainable tourism that allowed and encouraged development, while minimising negative impacts.

Dr Zammit Dimech said that the public would continue to see improvement in the environmental quality of the area, as the Blue Flag was awarded on an annual basis. It was therefore necessary to maintain the management of the area to a high standard in order to ensure that the beach could continue to be

advertised with a Blue Flag status.