From Not. J. L. Attard
In February 2008, unemployment stood at 6,342 according to figures published by the National Statistics Office. This shows a decrease of 845 when compared to the same month last year. In Malta, the registered unemployed amounted to 5,600, whereas in Gozo the registered unemployed amounted to 742. In the 12 months to February 2008, Malta experienced a decline in unemployment, whereas Gozo has seen a rise on this count.
These figures clearly show that the government is failing to create jobs for Gozitans. When one takes into consideration that many Gozitans either live in Malta to earn a living or else travel daily to our sister island to work, it confirms failure to create jobs in Gozo. When I tried to investigate the reasons and go into the merits of the problem, I discovered that there are a multitude of factors that are bringing about this situation.
I believe that the newly elected government must take this problem very seriously. The seriousness of the problem is reflected in the electoral result of the Gozo district. Here the Nationalist Party saw a considerable reduction in the percentage of votes in the first count in all Gozitan localities. Had the same voting trend followed suit in all the other districts, the Nationalist Party would have lost the General Election.
In my opinion, a solution to create more jobs in Gozo is by investing in the agri-tourism sector. But what is understood by agri-tourism? Agri-tourism is loosely defined as travel that combines agricultural or rural settings and products with a tourism experience. It includes providing visitors with a broad spectrum of agriculturally-based experiences ranging from fruit and vegetable stand shopping, direct farm marketing to winery, orchard, garden, from farm-based bed and breakfast accommodation, to participation in harvest festivals, farmer’s markets and cattle drives.
In the Gozitan context this definition would surely include visits to local cheese dairies. In our contemporary times many families are looking for farm-based working vacations domestically and abroad as an ultimate family vacation experience. Agri-tourism has its roots in the Italian term agritourismo – the concept of bringing urban residents to farming areas for recreation, reconnection, and to develop an understanding of the origin of their food and culinary culture.
I am convinced that marketing and investing in this type of tourism would create a new niche in the Gozitan industry. More tourists in Gozo mean triggering off a chain reaction in the whole local economy giving it the necessary stimulus. A summary of the benefits of agri-tourism for farmers are: developing new consumer market niches; increasing awareness of local agricultural products; creating greater appreciation of the importance of maintaining agricultural land uses; providing farm family members with on-site employment opportunities; and strengthening the long-term sustainability for farm businesses.
On the regional level, apart from creating more jobs agri-tourism can be a vehicle for diversifying and stabilising rural economies by increasing community income; providing a broader market base for local businesses; and attracting other businesses and small industries. From a tourism viewpoint, agri-tourism is a means of diversifying the mix of tourism products and services available to visitors and uniquely positioning rural areas and communities for tourism markets.
Agri-tourism is only the start towards solving the problem of job creation in Gozo. This issue should be placed on the top of the agenda of the Gonzi administration in the next legislature. The government has the duty to stop the exodus of the Gozitan workforce to Malta and to foreign countries and give us Gozitans a better standard of living in our own homeland.
Joseph Louis Attard
XAGHRA