Valletta is going through a rough patch, and the square Café Premier faces has seen livelier times, but the cafe’s present owners are hoping to help spur a turn of fortune in both. But they have learned to be patient and not expect results overnight, communications officer Wayne Fisher tells John Cordina

The site now occupied by Café Premier, beneath the National Library in Valletta, is believed to have housed a café for over two centuries, Wayne Fisher notes. A document dating back to 1803 – when the British had just arrived – refers to a café on site, although what name it used then remains a mystery.

The café’s heyday was arguably in the 1950s and the 1960s, when big bands regularly played at the Pjazza Regina to sizeable crowds who would take to dancing. The presence of Nato servicemen at the time also helped boost Valletta crowds, at Premier and beyond.

Since then, the cafe changed hands numerous times, before its present owners – Cities Entertainment Ltd – took over in 2009. In the meantime, however, nights at the square – and in the entire city – had also quietened down considerably.

“If Valletta keeps going the way it is, it will end up like Mdina,” Mr Fisher laments. He just moved to Malta to work for Cities Entertainment last year, but his mother is Maltese and he had been a regular visitor in the past.

The city, he observes, appears to be affected by its reputation for quiet nights, even though the number of evening events being organised is on the increase. The Manoel Theatre often struggles to draw crowds to midweek performances, he notes.

The company – which also runs the two other outlets beneath the National Library – the Great Siege of Malta museum and the Café Palazz – is obviously keen to reverse the trend.

Efforts have been made to tie all three together, but the company now effectively considers Premier as a separate entity, while seeking to develop synergies between the museum and the Café Palazz. Premier, Mr Fisher notes, has an atmosphere which is markedly different from the museum’s mass market appeal, and can attract different crowds.

But the plan is not to simply attract passing trade, Mr Fisher insists: the café cannot afford to rely on it – except, possibly, during summer. Instead, the company aims to turn the café into a venue. While the company spent considerable amounts on promotion – some “just to let people know we’re open”, – Mr Fisher states that hoping to attract larger crowds without organising events would be a nonstarter.

The café hopes to draw on its musical history and to recreate the heady atmosphere of decades past. Perhaps the closest it has come to doing so is every Wednesday in warmer months, when musician George Curmi ‘Il-Puse’ and his band perform at the square to crowds which, Mr Fisher happily observes, seem to be growing in number. Mr Curmi’s performances continue a family tradition; his father Joe and his uncle Paul ‘Il-Pampalun’ Curmi had frequently played at the square in decades past, and the latter has accompanied his nephew on percussion this summer.

The café has also regularly hosted bands on Friday evenings, a tradition which is currently on hiatus but which should resume next year, possibly with live broadcasts on a local radio station.

The company also believes that a regular Valletta festival should take place, focusing on music and other performances and centred on St George’s Square. Notte Bianca has become a hugely successful annual event, Mr Fisher concedes, but a new festival could serve to attract crowds which may not find Notte Bianca to their liking.

But its hopes to revive Valletta at night are being hindered, Mr Fisher notes, by the current 11pm music curfew, which is vigorously observed by Valletta police. The café has had problems with the police on a number of nights, he admits.

The Malta Tourism Authority and the Valletta local council, on the other hand, are more amenable to cooperation. The company is in contact with the MTA over the latter’s plans to attract more tourists outside peak season, and Mr Fisher states that it will do everything asked of it.

“We just need to get the police on our side,” he notes.

Other establishments are a mixed bag, however; some cooperate, while others refuse to, to Mr Fisher’s disappointment. Seeing everyone pitted against each other is something the Englishman cannot get used to; and he insists that cooperation between competitors will benefit all of them – and that the opposite is also true.

One way cooperation can help is by addressing common issues. Premier and Manoel Theatre, for instance, are discussing ways to physically bring more people to the city.

“We’re fighting on all fronts to get people here. Not just for ourselves, for everybody,” he notes.

Mr Fisher, however, also argues that Valletta outlets could help by not closing for afternoon hours, a decision which, he said, often leaves tourists puzzled. He said that on a number of times, shop owners have agreed with his arguments for staying open, only to continue closing up nevertheless.

Malta’s “let it be” mentality has remained unchanged for as long as he has visited, Mr Fisher said, adding that everyone needed to do their bit to ensure Valletta’s success.

But while the company may feel progress elsewhere is unbearably slow, it is careful not to rush things with the café. The directors may have wanted to see results as soon as possible, Mr Fisher notes, but they are recognising the need to be patient.

Mr Fisher describes himself as “a turtle, not a hare”, believing that the café’s lofty targets can be achieved – but only with the proper preparation. Expecting everything to come into place overnight, especially given what Valletta is going through, he adds.

Valletta outlets, Mr Fisher asserts, are going through a particularly rough time. The City Gate project has affected tourist numbers immeasurably – with many cruise liner tourists, among others, ending up in other destinations. Issues with the bus service have not exactly helped, he adds.

Further down the line, however, the company believes that Valletta could be a hub of activity throughout the day and throughout the year, and that Premier could be at the forefront of its revival. That would require a lot of hard work, certainly: but the opportunity to do so in such a “brilliant” location is already rewarding, Mr Fisher observes.