I spent the greater part of this summer compensating for what was a rather bad summer last year. I enjoyed most of the best that the Latin and Byzantine worlds have to offer. First travelling by car to Sicily and, a week after returning, travelling to Corfu and hiring a car there. I must say that when one considers the tourist attractions that exist so close to our shores, and when one considers what we have to offer compared to others, dare I suggest that to remain competitive in the tourism industry we really have to pull our socks up. We have a good product and we are a beautiful country with nice people but, contrary to local perceptions, there are others out there like us who could even be better at what we do than we are.

What really struck me were the beaches. Their cleanliness, their accessibility, their vast expanse, their quietness, their clean waters, their quantity, their natural environment, their seclusion.

Keeping in mind the fact that we tend to have an overcrowding problem that is not easily resolved, neither is the permanent building site image, Mepa notwithstanding appealing. However, there is one aspect of the problem that we can vastly improve on. Our beaches!

I was always of the opinion that beaches should be left in their natural state except for minor accessibility and landscaping works. However, once they are impinged on by human abundance and over-frequented they have to be properly managed. This is where we have to better concentrate our efforts.

First of all we have to realise that although we have nice seas, we have very few sandy beaches, mostly on the north-east coast, and the few we have we really need to look after properly. Some sandy beaches, which are now newly available after the building of the sewage treatment plants, are only accessible against payment. I am thinking particularly about Anchor Bay, which can only be accessed on payment. Many other beaches in the Armier and Marfa bay areas leave much to be desired and, in my opinion, these are among the most beautiful we have to offer. Even some popular beaches like Mellieha bay need to be looked after in a better manner. Some tough decisions, with some imagination, should be taken to bring these up to scratch. We need to look after those few beaches we have in order to make them more attractive, more accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and sustainable.

Another problem we need to urgently tackle is the public transport sector and the attendant pollution emitting vehicles that are a veritable menace in more ways than one. I understand that plans are in hand to upgrade this sector by the government so I will not say much about this except to add that one should also keep an eye on human resource development in this sector.

We also have to seriously embark on more aggressive reforestation projects, which I admit cost money but need to be done. Vast swathes of land in the north and south of the country, including Comino, are crying out for professional reforestation. Mellieha Ridge, Wardija Ridge and all the ridges in the north up to and including the great fault should be adequately reforested and managed. There are areas in the South where this should be done as well.

If we want to improve our tourism industry we have to keep one step ahead of the competition because in the Mediterranean there is plenty of it!

Michael Asciak MD

BIRKIRKARA