Tourism can be used as a basis to promote peace, Secretary General of the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation (MTF) Andrew Agius Muscat told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Agius Muscat explained that MTF’s main aim is to really promote tourism as a vehicle for peace in the Mediterranean.

The MTF was established by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) on 28 November 2013. It is a non-governmental organisation aimed at increasing the potential for sustainable tourism growth across the Mediterranean region. The vision of MTF is inspired by the shared will of both public and private tourism sector stakeholders to revitalise efforts to transform the Mediterranean into an area of peace, cooperation and prosperity by investing and promoting sustainable tourism growth across the region. The MTF will host the fifth Mediterranean Tourism Forum on 1 and 2 March this year, with the theme ‘Mediterranean Blue; Beautiful Life unites everyone’.

President of the Board of Governors Tony Zahra and Andrew Agius Muscat are the co-founders of MTF.

Agius Muscat said the idea is based on the origins of the EU, and that the EU project was not an economic one, but rather one for peace. The idea by the original founders of the ECSC, the precursor of the European Union, he said, was to tie the original countries economically through coal and steel. This was an important economic sector at the time that would bring economic benefits which would spill over from one sector to the other to create a common market, which in turn achieved peace.

“The coal and steel of the Mediterranean is tourism. When speaking about tourism in the Mediterranean people forget about political and religious differences.”

“We want to be a positive voice in the wilderness,” he said, mentioning the problems around the Mediterranean, such as economic problems and migrant deaths at sea.

“We want to be a voice which gives hope, by talking about a tourism, which in turn will bring the Mediterranean countries together. We are calling on all stakeholders who have an interest in Mediterranean tourism to come together.”

Discussing the upcoming MTF forum, he described it as an opportunity for discussion that brings people together to brainstorm ideas.

He was asked why different Mediterranean countries should work together, given that they compete with one another when it comes to tourism. “The idea that if, for example, something bad happens in one country then Malta will benefit, is false. There will be an element of gain, but overall there is more of a threat than gain. If the Mediterranean gets the reputation of being a hotspot dangerous area, people will not travel there.”

As an example “I remember being in China on business during the Libyan revolution against Gaddafi. I tuned in to CNN and saw boats coming to Malta running away from Libya, seeing maps with Malta highlighted and I began to worry about my family in Malta. Now imagine if you had a planned holiday to Malta. We have an interest in projecting the Mediterranean in a positive light.”

He mentioned that according to growth statistics, source market country growth mainly comes from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, and that people from China for example, do not come to the Mediterranean to visit just one country, but visit different locations.

The forum will also include 12 master classes. He said that the results of an energy project on energy efficiency in hotels, which was launched a year ago, will be presented in one of the master classes.

“We came up with the idea to develop software reading key performance indicators for energy efficiency, where one can benchmark their establishment against their peers. We conducted a study on energy consumption by hotels across the Mediterranean, and set a target for Malta to be a leader in the Mediterranean.” The idea is that if a hotel reaches the target, government will give it a financial award to reinvest in energy efficiency in its operation. This is performance based. The software will be presented during the master class.

He mentioned that Malta is being used and can be used further as a testing area for such ideas, given its small size. These ideas can then be exported.

“Another idea we are working on, which we will launch during the workshops, is the Mediterranean as a Christmas destination.” He explained that faith-based tourism is a niche market.

He said the Mediterranean has many locations that are linked with Christmas. “There is Bethlehem; Santa Clause as a historical figure comes from Turkey, and his remains are in Bari, Italy; Zagreb in Croatia has the leading Christmas market, and the biggest Crib museum is in Slovenia. You can keep going, Malta with its churches, feasts and so on. Therefore, there are people who travel for Christmas. In one of our master classes, we will start bringing together all the potential stakeholders, which would include the mayors of Bethlehem and Fatima.”

He referred to the Mediterranean Institute for Tourism and Inter-Cultural studies, which was set up by the MTF, saying that inter-culture is the foundation of both tourism and peace. “We are the only educational institution bringing these two together, and are in the process of creating a network of schools and organisations with an interest in this area to start offering courses through our local partner in Malta and the satellites across the Mediterranean.”

He spoke of the need to create events to tackle seasonality. One project the MTF is working on is the launch of the Mediterranean Music Festival. “Music is an international language that brings people together. We want to set Malta as the stage for art, culture and music in the Mediterranean.”

The concert will feature Mediterranean pop stars. The base will be Radio Italia Live, organised in Malta, with the aim being to motivate people to come to Malta. “While the concerts Malta hosts today are good and provide entertainment for locals and tourists in Malta, the aim of this concert will be to encourage people to come to the island. The main line-up for this year will be Italian, but will include some stars from other Mediterranean countries. This is part of the Mediterranean music project strategy. We will create an academy which will include master classes and whoever places first will also have the opportunity to play in a Mediterranean orchestra which will be televised.”

The Mediterranean Conference Centre will become the home for a 60-piece Mediterranean band conducted by Bruno Santori that will be launched on 2 March during the Gala awards, which form part of the Forum. Matia Bazar will be playing alongside them on the night, besides other stars.”

He said that one of the master classes deals with infrastructure, pointing out that one of the main challenges facing a number of Mediterranean countries is infrastructure. “We have beautiful seas, great heritage, but there are challenges in the way they are presented, conserved, the way we build road networks. What we want to do is bring about the dreams and vision of the Medici family, who wanted to turn Florence into an open museum. We want to grab that vision, position it for the Mediterranean while using Malta as a showcase for these ideas.”

He remarked that this does not just mean fixing roads, but also how Malta should be dressed up, for the Maltese first and foremost, and then for tourists. He also mentioned the possible use of modern technology, such as augmented reality to set Malta as the first of its kind in the world.

He also spoke about the lack of luxury tourism facilities on the island. As an example, he mentioned that Malta has many luxury yachts flying Malta’s flag, but they only use Malta as their garage. “We want Malta to become a hub of activity for the owners of these yachts. Malta has one of the highest numbers of registered ships in the world, and we are only touching the tip of the iceberg in this sector.” 

He highlighted how Mediterranean countries can work together to help attract more tourists to the Mediterranean region, and how Malta can benefit from ideas other countries have implemented in this field.

President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca is the patron of the foundation, which is supported by the government and in particular by the Minister of Tourism

For more information visit www.medtourismfoundation.com