This administration has been in office for three years – or almost 1,100 days. We started with a vision, that of making Gozo a prized contributor to our national well-being. But let’s not forget from where we started.

There was a time when Gozo was considered just an annex to the Maltese identity. It was presented in a ‘crib-like’ mentality, where it needed to be left as untouched as possible and preferably viewed from a distance. ‘Where time stood still’ was coined and repeatedly used to describe Gozo. In more than one-way, it summarised the attitude with which Gozo was viewed.

We must acknowledge that this approach produced positive results in the past. In the image of a ‘poster boy’, Gozo was presented as a static representation of everything that was good in Malta in days gone by. It proved attractive for some time, and the increase in tourism compensated for the decline in the industrial sector, which was almost completely wiped out in Gozo.

However, the effectiveness of this strategy was subject to the law of gravity. Unable or unwilling to adapt, the attractiveness declined. What worked wonders during the 1990s, struggled to give the desired results at the start of the millennium. For over 10 years, Gozo stagnated.    

The economy stopped growing, investment stopped flowing and a new generation was born looking outside Gozo for opportunities.

Prior to taking office, we undertook months of internal discussion and engaged intensively with all stakeholders. Several approaches were floated and examined deeply.

We were convinced that the fact that approaches had worked well in the past did not guarantee that they would work in the future. We were aware that what worked in Malta, would not necessarily work in Gozo. While an engineered approach can work in one place and under certain circumstances, this does not mean it will work under a different scenario and in different places.

Instead, we recognised that there were no easy fixes to lift Gozo from a state of stagnation to prosperity overnight, or even in the course of a few years. One of the first things we did was to look at the various market failures that were weighing heavily on Gozo’s development and growth. A prime example of such failure was the under-provision of services that Gozo Channel Co. Ltd was offering due to its bad financial state and governance issues.

It is no coincidence that we immediately tackled the financial aspects of Gozo Channel in order to be in a position to extend its services and reduce running costs.

Instead of trying to replicate the formula that had been adopted in Malta, we opted to look at the various niche markets that had the potential to contribute to Gozo’s development and create employment opportunities. Religious tourism and cultural tourism are only two examples. These have been nurtured and supported and both of them have the potential to increase in importance, especially once the Cittadella project is completed and launched.

Another niche market that we are targeting is sports tourism. During the first year of this administration, we set up the Gozo Sports Board and supported its functions with the necessary resources. My Ministry has also actively supported numerous NGOs, fully aware of the fundamental role they play in providing services that central authorities often struggle to provide efficiently.  

In the remaining years of this legislation, we will witness the visible delivery of many important initiatives that until now have been at the planning stage. These will address crucial aspects of our daily experience and Gozo’s restrictions due to its inherent characteristics.

During the last three years, the results are already evident. The one million bed nights, the one million tourists visiting Gozo, the record growth in employment and a net positive contributor to the national economy are just the beginning of a trend this government has managed to reverse.