There were high expectations that our tourism industry would really pick up this year, with the government slapping down a 50,000 passenger increase target.

Sadly, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association has said that these figures were looking to be unattainable. The association said that in the first six months of this year, only an additional 6,000 arrivals had been registered – meaning that an absolute stormer of a summer season would be needed to make up the 44,000 target deficit.

But what is lacking? Why are we not doing as well as we hoped?

The first answer that officialdom would provide is that the world is still recovering from the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and, more recently, the London and Egypt bombings, the tsunami in south east Asia and Hurricane Katrina, not to mention the oil crisis.

But surely, should these unfortunate and sad factors not work to our advantage, considering that Malta is considered to be a “safe” destination? Tourists can have fun in the sun and not worry about terrorism or natural disasters in this country and it is something we should capitalise on.

But being a “safe” destination is not enough. MHRA president Justin Zammit Tabona said that the so called “Product Malta” left much to be desired. He said that it was good to see that the islands were being spruced up for the Commonwealth Heads of State meeting in November. Yet, on the other hand, shouldn’t work on making Malta better be a process that is in motion all the time?

We could not agree more.

To put things into perspective, there has been embellishment work carried out in various parts of Malta and Gozo, but one must definitely say that the work has not been as widespread as most would have hoped for.

True, work has been done to construct man-made beaches at St George’s Bay in St Julian’s and there are plans for a perched beach in Bugibba, but one must dig a lot deeper to find out why we are not performing as well as we should be.

We must tie our culture in to what a tourist normally expects. To start, we must identify what a tourist’s basic needs are – sun, sea, good food, reasonable prices, good service, friendly hosts and the X factor – value added experience.

What is this so called value added experience? Value added experience are things like entertainment, the soul of a country coming alive, cultural activities as well as history – one only has to look at the massive turnout for the revived Vittoriosa Maltese Falcon ceremony to show that this is the way forward.

We need to offer tourists the best of everything, such as top-notch ways to enjoy themselves, military and historical re-enactments, good, safe and reasonably priced diving facilities, improved golf amenities, well-kept museums, clean streets and a varied nightlife. Most of all, we need to provide good service and good value for money.

Efforts have been made, but the success achieved has not reached the expectations.

In Malta, we do not aim to serve the tourist, we aim to serve ourselves and this is what is hurting us the most. Unfortunately, many still think of the short-term rather than looking to the longer-term benefits.

And if that attitude continues to permeate through the country – we have had it. People will just stop coming and try elsewhere.

We need to look at other countries, particularly those in direct competition with Malta, and see what they are providing. We do not need to re-invent the wheel. Malta is known as a destination that has character. But unfortunately character alone is not enough to be able to attract the masses and, most of all, people who stay longer and spend more.