A quarrel is never anything nice. It is even worse when people or entities who might have different interests but share a common goal are involved in an argument, more so if this is thrashed out in the media.

Over the past days we had one such argument between two entities, the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises, GRTU, and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

It all started when the GRTU director general, Vince Farrugia, without mincing his words, called upon the Prime Minister to take over the Tourism Ministry, and thus remove Dr Francis Zammit Dimech from the portfolio he holds. What irked the MHRA was that this happened during a media event the MHRA had organised to announce the results of a survey on the tourism sector for the last quarter of 2006, with Mr Farrugia’s uninhibited call prompting it to accuse him that he had “attempted to hijack” its activity.

The GRTU replied, insisting that it has a right to argue that the tourism sector is in a pitiful state, and following that by another statement in which GRTU president Paul Abela said that the chamber was four square behind its director general. It was the MHRA’s turn then to come out with another statement, saying it did not want to turn the matter into a public war of words with the GRTU – but by then the controversy had become a raging fire. More fuel was added to the fire through statements issued jointly by the Federation of Industry and the Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise, and later by the Malta Employers’ Association, which expressed their support for the MHRA.

Now, while it has to be kept in mind that everyone and every entity has a right to an opinion, it must be said that the dispute went beyond what it should have in the circumstances. The strong words that were exchanged were unwarranted in the prevailing circumstances, at a time when the tourism industry’s performance needs a concerted effort for it to continue improving following a protracted period of difficulty.

Mr Farrugia and the GRTU have every right to say that they would like to see the Prime Minister take over the responsibility of the tourism portfolio, seeing that they feel that the problems in the industry are not being tackled in the right way. But perhaps they should have expressed their thoughts in one of their own activities, rather than make use of an MHRA event. Had they called a news conference to express their views nothing of this sort would have happened. Though, it can be argued, Mr Farrugia had expressed himself on a subject, tourism, that was being discussed.

For its part, the MHRA felt that Mr Farrugia’s intervention was uncalled for – during an event it had organised – particularly because the association believes that over the past 12 months there have been efforts to improve the situation of an industry, largely through the restructuring of the Malta Tourism Authority, including the appointment of a new chairman, and a marketing campaign that is starting to bear fruit.

With Mr Farrugia choosing an MHRA platform to express his strong views, the MHRA must have felt it was being associated with the GRTU director general’s request, with which it does not agree at this particular point in time. Its statement saying that Dr Zammit Dimech “has come a long way to meeting the requirements of the industry and fully supports the expansion of low-cost operators to Malta and the implementation of the (tourism) consultative group’s recommendations” confirms that the MHRA understands that the efforts being made are substantial, although the MHRA then added that “there could be improvement in the speed” with which the changes are being implemented.

Both the GRTU and the MHRA – and the FOI, Chamber of Commerce and Enterprise and MEA, for that matter – have the tourism industry at heart, and both would like to see it flourish. Right now they are not on the same wavelength and they have different ideas as to how the prevailing problems in the industry need to be challenged.

What is important is that the two entities have to realise that they do share a common goal and they both stand to gain in a thriving tourism industry. The current standoff should be resolved as quickly as possible in the best interest of all.