What clearly emerged during last Friday’s press conference given by Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism Mario de Marco was that the volatile industry continues to change at a fast pace, and that unless the authorities are on board to shift strategies and plans accordingly, things will get complicated.

That 2009 was a difficult year for tourism was no news. With the world passing through a period of crisis on an international level it was hard to imagine that Malta would have been spared. But a concerted effort by the parliamentary secretariat, the Malta Tourism Authority and all the other stakeholders meant that the negative impact was contained – all in all, Malta performed as well as its Mediterranean competitors and, when one considers that 2008 was a record year, 2009 was not that bad.

With the recession slowly giving way to better times, it is expected that 2010 will still be a year of challenges and difficulties, but the cautious optimism expressed by Dr de Marco will hopefully translate into healthier figures for the industry.

There are many aspects of tourism that are changing – and are changing fast. Fewer people are booking package holidays, which means that more are planning holidays on their own. This could be beneficial to the hotel owners, as they could charge higher rates, but at the same time it does not guarantee the room occupancy levels that tour operators can manage.

More and more people are also leaving it late to book their holiday. They might plan one month ahead, but tend to book their holiday much closer to the date than they used to in the past. What happened last August was a clear example of this – in late July hoteliers were fearing a disaster for August, the best month for tourism for Malta. But a surge in late bookings meant that the August results were much better than expected.

People today are opting for shorter holidays – and this is why the length of stay has somewhat decreased over the past years – but then they are travelling more frequently. Instead of going abroad once a year, more people are going on one or two extra weekend breaks during the winter and shoulder months while taking a shorter holiday in summer.

Malta’s marketing strategy has also had to change in view of all this. Apart from additional funds which needed to be pumped in advertising campaigns, these had to be spread out evenly across the whole year. This was also due to the fact that in summer, Malta has almost reached saturation point, and if growth has to continue, this must come from more visitors during the shoulder and winter months.

It is here that Malta must work harder. And, it is hoped that the various activities that are being held during weekends between September and May will serve as an added attraction to visitors.

These shifting trends are gradually changing the industry. What has not changed is the need to provide the best possible product for tourists to enjoy themselves while in Malta. The fact that one third of them are repeat visitors indicates that many find their first trip enchanting, and come back.

But this is not enough. Over the years, private entrepreneurs invested heavily in five-star hotels that provide top service to their guests. But this unfortunately is not followed up by five-star service offered elsewhere. The government, for its part, must continue to improve the infrastructure while at the same time invest in regeneration projects such as the one earmarked for Valletta. At the same time, people who directly or indirectly offer services to tourists must understand that they have to be at their very best with each and every one of them.