This week I thought it appropriate that we consider how tourism, over the past ten years, has become a national cash cow that reaps massive rewards for personal gain.  The entrepreneurs are not even seasoned hoteliers, experienced tourism experts; nor are they really knowledgeable about tourism.  Most have come from the construction industry, others have dabbled in this and that trade. 

What makes this worse is that there is not even any sign that tourism is enhancing the local employment market – instead these so called pseudo entrepreneurs choose to engage foreign employees at below-average wages.  So tourism today has become an alien activity that leaves no benefit for the local community, for the national treasury; nor does it have any positive impact on the quality of life for those persons living on these islands. Just take a look around your islands at the decrepit state of the infrastructure, the rampant development of ugly blocks of apartments and the chaotic state of the situation regarding the traffic and parking issues and see whether that pseudo entrepreneur who said recently that “Malta is much more attractive today than ten years ago” was speaking the truth.

This week I think it is time we took a good, hard look at the way in which tourism today is being mismanaged at every level.  The activity that, fifty years ago, was seen as one of the primary socio-economic pillars has become a national cash cow that is milked dry by a fair number of uncouth, inexperienced and unethical entrepreneurs (no need to mention them by name, I am sure they will know who they are). 

Over the past ten years we have seen this activity continue to grow quantitatively each year (the recent “study” carried out by a company commissioned by the MHRA revealed that we should need 4.6 million visitors a year to prove successful) without any other study or report that indicates how sustainable growth is in relation to the resources and attractiveness of the islands.  The motive behind this growth is greed, money and wealth for the few who benefit directly.

But sustainable tourism must include a balanced, long-term plan that allows for an improvement in the quality of life for the local community, added value for the visitor and a destination that has the resources to provide these experiences. This is not the situation today on these islands.  Sustainability is a term that is loosely used by politicians in government today here, abused by the unethical business community and ignored by most of the community because they do not believe it to be possible to implement.  Yet sustainability is not only possible but vital for the continuation of a tourism activity that will rethink, redevelop and restore the attractiveness of this destination – only if we leave out those politicians and businesses who have destroyed these qualities with their greed and unethical sense of management.  Here are my six stages to turn this decrepit island into the attraction it should be:

 

1.     Tourism needs to be seen as an activity where three key stakeholders must develop a sense of commitment, trust and synergy and work together not against each other.  These stakeholders are the authorities, the business bommunity and the bommunity.

2.     The management of tourism needs to be continuous and consistent process among all these stakeholders.

3.     Tourism planning must be part of the integrated process between the three stakeholders where the politician and the business community are not, in any way, the leaders of such plans.

4.     We must name and shame those entrepreneurs who have destroyed the attractiveness of these islands with their uncouth and unethical manner in treating tourism as their own path to illicit money making.

5.     We need a new sense of management for tourism run by a government that is not laden with the burden of unwashed linen.

6.     Finally, YOU are also responsible in ensuring that tourism on these islands is put back on the correct tracks.

By following these six stages, we can ensure that these islands are managed professionally, sustainably and with the idea of developing a quality activity that attracts the visitor who wants to be here not the one who wants to be here.  Travel and tourism to these islands today is about quantitative gains for the greedy and uncouth.  We need to put professionalism and hospitality back in the equation.

 

Dr Julian Zarb is a researcher, local tourism planning consultant and an Academic at the University of Malta. He has also been appointed as an Expert for the High Streets Task Force in the UK.  His main area of research is community-based tourism and local tourism planning using the integrated approach.