Considerable advantages Malta enjoys in tourism, such as the safety and security people find here, are sharply weakened by factors such as the preservation of natural and cultural resources and prices, which lead to an overall 26th-place ranking for Malta in a 124-country survey by the World Economic Forum.
The ranking is given in the forum’s first Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report for this year, aiming to measure the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the Travel and Tourism (T&T) sector in different countries.
The 26th ranking for Malta places it considerably behind Spain (15th). Cyprus is placed at 20th, and Greece at 24th. Other countries in the Mediterranean include Israel, placed 32nd, and Tunisia, in 34th place.
An analysis of the findings shows that it is evident, the World Economic Forum says, that Malta will be facing stiffer competition from its main rivals unless it succeeds at mitigating its competitive disadvantages that relate to the lack of: the preservation of natural and cultural resources; effectiveness of marketing and branding campaigns; air transport accessibility; and, in particular, the lack of price competitiveness.
According to the report, Malta has a competitive advantage in the Travel and Tourism Regulatory Framework because of the priority it gives to travel and tourism, as proved by the extensive budgets granted by the government to tourism authorities. In this sector, Malta ranks fifth.
In safety and security, it ranks 16th due to the low levels of crime while the high density of doctors gives Malta a 26th ranking in health and hygiene.
But then comes the sharp erosion. In environmental regulations, Malta places 55th mainly due to their level of stringency, clarity and stability.
In the Travel and Tourism Business Environment and Infrastructure, Malta is given a competitive advantage in ICT infrastructure, which earns 11th place, and in tourism infrastructure (12th), as a result of the strong penetration of ICT and hotel rooms respectively.
But that competitive advantage is eroded due to poor price competitiveness (109th) due to high inflation and airport tax, the ground transport infrastructure (60th) due to a lack of proper public transport facilities, and the air transport infrastructure (42nd) resulting primarily from the number of airlines operating to Malta and the available seat kilometres.
In Travel and Tourism human, cultural and natural resources, the main driver of competitive advantage is national tourism perception, which places Malta at 16th place. This is particularly determined by the country’s openness and attitude towards tourists.
On the other hand, the issues that are considered to be eroding Malta’s T&T competitiveness are human resources (43rd) referring to the quality of service delivery by front-line people in the industry; and natural and cultural resources (44th) which is mainly derived from the level of carbon dioxide and the number/state of World Heritage sites and environmental attractiveness measures, including the percentage of nationally-protected areas.
The report says that of particular interest to Malta are its direct competitors. Cyprus is ranked the highest among countries that recently joined the European Union, just behind The Netherlands. The main attribute for this high ranking is the overall high quality of the country’s tourism infrastructure ranked at fifth.
The report, made available through Competitive Malta, the Foundation for National Competitiveness that is a partner institute of the World Economic Forum, particularly highlights Switzerland’s success at taking the leading position in the travel and tourism competitiveness index (TTCI) rankings, followed closely by Austria and Germany.
“Switzerland owes its position at the top to strengths in all areas covered by the index, the report states. “As is well known, Switzerland is an extremely safe country, with excellent health and hygiene indicators, as well as environmental regulation that is among the most stringent and effective in the world. And in a country that has some of the most well regarded hotel management schools in the world, the quality of the country’s human resources is second to none, ensuring an adequate supply of high-quality staff for the industry.
The T&T infrastructure is also among the best in the world, making it very easy and comfortable for visitors to move around the country.”
The TTCI is composed of a number of “pillars” of T&T competitiveness, of which there are 13 in all.
These are:
1. Policy rules and regulations
2. Environmental regulation
3. Safety and security
4. Health and hygiene
5. Prioritisation of travel and tourism
6. Air transport infrastructure
7. Ground transport infrastructure
8. Tourism infrastructure
9. ICT infrastructure
10. Price competitiveness in the T&T industry
11. Human resources
12. National tourism perception
13. Natural and cultural resources