The battle of words in the local media between the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association and Air Malta can do little to help the tourism sector, a sector upon which both entities depend.
If anything, it is another thorn in the side of an industry that has not been performing well over the past years. Now, if important segments of this economic pillar go out and about attacking each other, this will certainly worsen the situation. And Malta cannot afford this at a time when it does not look likely that matters are about to improve in the short term.
Two separate statements over the past week have clearly indicated that the MHRA and Air Malta are not seeing eye-to-eye on how to deal with the present scenario in the tourism sector, which is going through its worst patch.
To be fair, the MHRA’s statement covered more matters than just Air Malta, but in those few lines about the national airline it came down heavily on the decision taken to issue a stop sale to tour operators for 39 flights from various UK airports for the months of November and December. According to the MHRA, this can only add to fears that new bookings will be lost from important departure points for these months due to unavailability of seats.
In reply, Air Malta published a statement
questioning the MHRA’s intentions and giving an explanation of its decision to issue a stop sale, and going on to mention the initiatives the airline has taken to contribute to the tourism industry, such as the introduction of new destinations as well as the “Spread your arms and fly” campaign which was launched recently, and which has been well-received both locally and abroad.
Both statements were strongly-worded, to say the least, and exposed – if ever there was a doubt – the fragility of the tourism industry, as a whole and of the entities involved on an individual basis, at this point in time.
The position – perhaps one should say fears – of both the MHRA and Air Malta are easily understood and justified, as both have a lot to lose if the tourism industry continues to lose business.
If the number of tourists coming over to Malta continues to drop, Air Malta will lose more money because its seats will remain empty, while hoteliers who are MHRA members will lose more money as their hotel rooms will remain unoccupied.
Air Malta’s preoccupation goes beyond this. The start of operations by low-cost airlines – while necessary to encourage more people to book flights to Malta – must have been considered as a blow below the belt by the national airline, and has led to a kind of diversification which, up to a few years ago, Air Malta would have never even considered.
Complaints that Air Malta was too expensive to fly with were common, but it is only now that the national airline has come up with reduced prices on 33 of its destinations to try to attract more customers on its routes.
On the other hand, the MHRA is right too to be worried. The problems being faced in the tourism industry have grown over the past years, and efforts to reverse the trend have so far proved to be unsuccessful. Hoteliers have invested several millions of liri to build their complexes and their recurrent expenses, including the wages of the thousands of people they employ full-time or part-time, are exorbitant.
Therefore, both Air Malta and the MHRA, rather than involving themselves in disputes over who is doing what and what the other should be doing, should come together and work hand in hand on the issue, along with other organisations involved in the sector.
At a time when the tourism industry is, as said over and over again, passing through such a prolonged time of difficulty, pointing fingers will get us nowhere.