Last week, Xlendi was awash with colour as business owners painted their shop and restaurant fronts and furniture.

Signs saying ‘caution, wet paint’ were everywhere to be seen as everyone tried to make the little seaside town as pretty as possible. People swept the streets, lights were changed, boats were painted and people got dressed up in traditional costume. But what was the reason for it all, one may ask. The frenzy of sprucing up activity was all down to the visit of a cruise liner, the Seabourne Legend. The vessel anchored outside Xlendi and tourists were ferried to shore and allowed to sample a few hours of what Gozo has to offer.

The line which owns the vessel has confirmed that there will be other visits to Xlendi later in the year. This is all good news. It is good news because it will give Gozo a much needed tourist number boost – and high end tourists at that.

On the other hand, we do question why it had to be the arrival of a vessel to create such a frenetic dash to give everything in the town a quick make-over. Shouldn’t business owners be doing that anyway, to try and attract as much trade as they can, rather than relying solely on passing trade.

Nonetheless, the news is good and it is, as we have said, very positive. It will boost the Gozitan economy and it will also serve to give the island some exposure as a destination in its own right, rather than as an extension of Malta. It will also do Malta good in terms of exposure, as once people get a taste of the smaller island, they might want to come back and visit our whole archipelago.

Tourist arrivals are always positive, and it does help to improve the confidence of establishment owners, when they know they will get more of the same trade – however, as we already mentioned, this should not be taken for granted.

Tourism will always be one of the main pillars of our economy and we should do all we can to attract all kinds of visitors, whether it be by air or sea. The authorities should try and encourage other lines to stop in Gozo, however, this must be done with sustainability in mind. Gozo being swamped by tourists day in day out, would do no good for the island’s reputation for peace and quiet.

If the buoy outside Xlendi has returned desirable results, then the authorities should look into anchoring another buoy off another part of Gozo – if this is feasible – Marsalforn, for example.

Tourism is evolving and we must be ready to change and adapt to try and take as much of the market as possible – this is one such way.