Millions of liri have been invested over the past few years, and will continue to be invested in the near future, in the building of luxury hotels all over Malta.
While visiting a hotel that is being built in Sliema last week, Tourism and Culture Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said that there are 37 projects for the extension of existing hotels or the development of new ones. These will be carried out over the next three years with an investment of Lm100 million.
Several five-star or four-star hotels have been developed over the past years, with Malta targeting the higher-quality tourist, although this strategy is often criticised.
The downside of this is that over the past few years there have been several lower class hotels that have been closed down, or have been turned into apartments. Others are expected to suffer the same fate in the months to come.
Of course, while the government and the Nationalist Party – and its media – highlight the investment that has been made and is being made in the tourism industry, the opposition – and its friendly media – have a field day in giving importance to stories about hotels that are closing down, saying that what is happening is a clear indication that the industry is in a crisis.
Minister Zammit Dimech, for his part, said that the hotels that are closing down are normally the smaller ones, while the investment being made is in top quality hotels which should make Malta more attractive to tourists.
As usual, the truth is somewhere in between.
It is a known fact that the tourism industry is not passing through a positive phase. There has been a steady decline in the number of arrivals, and government targets of pushing up the figures have failed over the past two years.
Malta seems to have lost its competitive edge. Other destinations have made great strides forward in their tourism industry, with Malta finding itself in difficulty to match their figures.
A major problem is that, as a whole package, Malta is not a five-star destination. In spite of the already mentioned heavy investment by entrepreneurs in building high standard hotels, this is not matched up with other services tourists are offered outside of the hotels they are staying in.
It has been said over and over again that, for example, public transport leaves much to be desired, that Malta is still unfortunately a dirty country and that on some occasions tourists are overcharged, and yet little seems to be done to rectify the situation.
The strategic plan for tourism, aimed to tackle the situation, is taking too long to materialise and, although it is expected that it will be made public shortly, it may already be too late. Tourism plans are not something that can be implemented quickly and which lead to results in the short term. It takes some time for the results to show.
On the other hand, it seems that local entrepreneurs are prepared to take the challenge, and are prepared to risk their money. In spite of the apparent slump in the industry, they continue to invest in their hotels, building extensions and opening up new ones.
It is as if they want to send a message to the government to take action. They believe in Malta’s tourism industry, and are prepared to do their bit to push it forward.
The government has perhaps taken things lightly in this matter, thinking that one year of difficulty in what was once a healthy sector would have been easily overcome. But is has now been a few years that the tourism industry has been facing difficult times. It is time to work hard to reverse the trend. And the government should be the first to show the way.