Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association president Justin Zammit Tabona expressed great disappointment that the inter-ministerial committee set up to deal with the difficulties being faced by the tourism industry has not achieved the progress that was anticipated.

It was a parting shot he delivered at the end of his two-year term as MHRA president last week, and one that did not go unnoticed.

Because it is true that the inter-ministerial committee – which was assembled when it was realised that the crisis being faced in such an important economic sector was not a temporary difficulty but one that needed a calculated strategy to overcome – has so far not lived up to the expectations.

Mr Zammit Tabona urged the government to get things done much faster than it is doing, calling for the same energy as that bestowed on the pre-CHOGM preparatory work to be shown at this point in time when tourism continues to show a steady decline.

The most recent figures released by the National Statistics Office reveal that there was a drop of 4.5 per cent in tourist arrivals in the first nine months of this year. For September alone, the decline registered went up to a staggering 8.7 per cent, with the most traditional markets of the UK, Germany and France all registering lower figures.

This shows that the targets that have been set by the government will once again not be met for the second year running. The plan to increase the number of incoming tourists by 50,000 in 2005 was not met and it is clear that the aim of adding another 50,000 this year will not be achieved either.

Low-cost airlines will possibly help improve the situation over the coming months, but the situation needs a deeper looking into.

It is known that the government is working on a National Tourism Plan – that has for long been advocated by the opposition and interested parties – but it seems that this is taking too long to come to be.

Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech has said that the government is giving the utmost importance to recommendations that have been forwarded by a Consultative Group that was set up earlier this year, adding that many of the proposals put forward will be included in the plan. The plan, he said, should be ready by the end of this month or by the end of the year at the latest.

We must therefore all wait a little bit longer to know what the government’s intentions are. This deadline must however be met because Malta cannot afford to delay more in this respect if the industry that has for many years been one of the pillars – if not the main pillar – of the local economy is to remain so.

What is sure is that we are reacting to a situation that has seemingly caught us unawares when the signs were there for all to see. Over the years Malta lost its competitive edge and other countries that were behind us have quickly caught up and surpassed us.

It would have perhaps been better to realise that tourism in Malta needs to be nourished to keep the momentum going before the difficulties started, rather than allow the situation to deteriorate as it has done in this sector before tackling the issue.

But, as often happens in Malta, we need to be hit badly to react, and this often leads to decisions that come too late or are not as effective as one would like them to be.

In this sense, the National Tourism Plan that is being prepared is already late because the crisis that has hit the industry has already gone deep. It is therefore imperative that this plan is finished as quickly as possible and implemented with the utmost urgency and efficiency to (possibly) make up for the time that has been lost.