During my time as a tourism expert on the TSG in Brussels, I was once talking to the director for the Tourism Unit at the Commission. He told me that he had come to the unit from another industry but he could not understand how fragmented tourism actually was across the European Union – there are hotel associations, airline associations, travel and tour operators and other associations representing the various services for tourism – none of them really agreed on a unilateral strategy or policy; each worked in their own bubble.
This made me think; on these islands there is exactly the same situation on tourism. Three or four hotel associations that do not represent all the accommodation services (at least those registered accommodation services); there are travel agent and tour operator associations; there are at least 10 associations for tourism that are recognised by the Tourism Authority which elect two representatives on the main Board each year, yet there is no synergy, no proper management of tourism.
In the last six years there have been three ministers for Tourism – each one touting their own agenda; consultations are carried out with the “chosen” few rather than with all stakeholders such as the businesses and the local community. I still remember a time when tourism was so fragmented that this was the main cause of the “price war” in the mid- 70s and 80s when the tour operator dominated the markets and set one hotel against the other and this led to a five-star hotel offering four-star prices; a four-star hotel offering three-star prices, and so it went on till we eliminated the budget hotels that could still have a market.
Hoteliers would agree on a schedule during their meetings with the Hotel Association, then immediately after the meeting they would go back to their offices and each agree with the tour operator on a competitive price. Indeed this has weakened the tourism activity, service and hospitality are not the key factors anymore but costs and revenue are – by quantifying tourism we have turned a profession and a career into a mundane job that deters qualified students who have a commitment and vocation to seek other industries and job opportunities elsewhere.
If we want to really regenerate tourism after this pandemic we should consider a more holisitic approach to the management of tourism (as opposed to the tourism management which governs different sectors seperatly); it is time the authorities and government, together with the businesses and the local community, engage in a consistent and continuous process of consultation, dialogue and communication based on commitment and trust rather than division.
Government is not the author of tourism policies but it is simply the editor that should ensure correct implementation. We need to monitor tourism in terms of quality not quantity – the practice of measuring tourism in visitor arrivals, bednights and revenue would be supplemented with more qualitative factors such as the socio-cultural impacts of tourism and the sustainable issues.
Tourism is considered a “stepping stone” for many students considering a career through university or the vocational colleges; this attitude needs to change, we need to make tourism a more challenging career and this means we should make it more competitive in terms of the qualifications required to undertake courses at these institutions. The idea that a waiter and a chef are simply menial jobs must be eliminated – these are professions. Students must understand that they should progress in their career and not expect to take top jobs (or be given psuedo titles) as soon as they graduate; career progression comes after one attains an amount of experience and knowledge to manage people and situations professionally.
Tourism professionals today need to work to eliminate fragmentation, amateurism and the idea that quantity comes before quality. In a post pandemic world we should take the opportunity NOW to start that new chapter which avoids the serious mistakes we made to date. What tourism needs now is: commitment, trust and synergy by all stakeholders.
Dr Julian Zarb is a researcher, local tourism planning consultant and a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Malta. He has also been appointed as an expert for the High Streets Task Force in the UK. His main area of research is community-based tourism and local tourism planning using the integrated approach.