The latest survey carried out by the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association on the situation of the tourism industry continues to show a rather bleak picture for what has for long been one of the main pillars of the country’s economy.

The BOV MHRA Hotel Survey by Deloitte confirmed that 2006 was not a good year for the industry, with arrivals and guest night generation down by four per cent and tourist expenditure also down by 1.2 per cent. In spite of a stronger performance in December, this was not enough to make up for the difficult time experienced throughout the rest of the year.

If the industry had suffered a decline for just one year and then regained its momentum, all would have been well and good. But the industry has been suffering for a number of years and, in spite of all the efforts that have been made to get it back on track, so far the results have not been positive. Evidently, the efforts put in have not been enough, or did not address the real problem areas.

This has led to yet another call, this time by the director general of the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, Vince Farrugia, for the removal of Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech. During the publication of the survey results, Mr Farrugia called on the Prime Minister to take over the tourism portfolio, while handing over the Finance Ministry to parliamentary secretary Tonio Fenech.

Such a call – and a repeated one at that – goes to prove that the industry is far from happy with the overall results. Whether a ministerial change – and only that – could actually lead to the turnaround desired by the industry is debatable, largely because there are certainly other factors that have to be taken into account, and not all can be put squarely on Francis Zammit Dimech’s shoulders.

Still, with an election that is not far off, it is highly unlikely that Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will listen to such a call.

To go back to the survey, it is clear that the industry cannot continue to sustain this negative trend. Just to mention one figure, the set target that over three years, starting with 2005, there should be an increase of 150,000 tourists is an aim that has so far failed miserably, and it does not seem that what was not achieved in 2005 and 2006 will be achieved this year.

MHRA president Josef Formosa Gauci himself has said that “anything less than substantial growth in 2007 will not be good enough,” going on to add that “there is a very long way ahead for the industry to get back on its feet, for the trend of hotel closures to be arrested, for sustainable profitability to be achieved and for three-star hotels to have a future”.

He insisted that words must be translated into action for tourism to remain one of the cornerstones of the economy, appealing to the government to implement the recommendations of the Tourism Consultative Group, which have been included in the National Tourism Plan.

What is also important however is that all the stakeholders involved in the industry work hand in hand together to find the best way forward. Unless there is a concerted effort by one and all, the tourism industry will struggle more than it has done over the past years. If the slide is not halted when there is still time to recover, Malta runs the risk of losing out even further, especially if competing nations – particularly those in the Mediterranean (although, in a globalised world, every other tourist destination is a competitor of Malta) – continue to improve their product.

It is also essential for each and everyone of us, and especially those who come in contact with foreign visitors, to play our part and play it well. We all stand to lose if the tourism industry remains in the doldrums.