We are all still familiar with the scenes in Barcelona and Venice last year when the tourism industry was showing the signs of a mass activity that had lost its real sense of hospitality and service. Careers in tourism had simply become jobs, services and experiences had turned into packages and products and the industry was managed through the quantitative results such as bed-nights, revenue and arrivals – short-term statistics that really do nothing for the quality of a tourism activity!
During the past six months tourism has been on a complete shutdown. UNWTO are predicting that figures will be reduced by 80% on forecasted numbers (perhaps this was a rather predictable forecast, under the circumstances!); tourism activity is not forecast to return to its pre-COVID statistics before another three years have passed. What we really need now is a strong, long-term strategy to manage tourism through this global pandemic, bearing in mind the need for new skills, new trends, new policies and a sustainable and responsible activity. We cannot afford to put off this moment now.
When European governments (including the Maltese government) decided to open up corridors and bridges for “safe” travel, I had warned about this short-term strategy, but all that was said by the authorities was: “Well, the rest of the world thinks differently” – now we can see just what it meant to be a follower rather than a leader. We are suffering the same indignation as other European countries by our primary source markets and travellers to these islands now have to self-quarantine for two weeks after visiting these islands. What effect will this have on our goodwill? On the other hand do we really want to be seen as a destination whose only real value is based on price and availability? Do we not have any other USPs that are unique or authentic to these islands besides the price and availability? Granted, these two factors are important, but we need something more than that if we are to survive the COVID shutdown successfully. We need to manage a quality tourism activity.
The concept of quality tourism has been discussed, considered and talked about over the past 30 years, at least. There was a time when “quality” meant we should pamper the millionaire or any member of the aristocracy. We even spoke of ditching the “bucket and spade brigade”; but we never ditched the “mass” tourist on these islands; we actually built our tourism infrastructure on the basis of volume, quantity and numbers. Quality tourism has nothing to do with numbers though, it is about attracting the tourist or visitor who wants to be here, rather than the one who happens to be here – that is the tourist whose only reason for choosing a destination is based on price and availability. To attract the tourist who wants to be here we need a change on attitude, an emphasis on hospitality and service as real qualities by all the host community and civic responsibility and awareness, which means we are not going to tolerate the type of arrogance displayed today by authorities, politicians and business persons.
We can manage tourism through the pandemic if we follow the process of an integrated approach to long-term tourism planning involving the local authorities, the businesses and the local community. This has been successful in reshaping another tourist resort, not far from us, in Majorca. Calvia has implemented the integrated approach to its Local Agenda 21 and so far it has succeeded. Can we be so successful? It is our collective responsibility to try to do so.
Dr Julian Zarb is a researcher, local tourism planning consultant and a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Malta. His main area of research is community-based tourism and local tourism planning using the integrated approach.