In my last article I think I was pretty clear about the way we are treating (or mistreating) tourism in Malta and Gozo. Government included two insignificant points roughly related to tourism recovery and investment; industry was eager to open again without considering the requirements for a sustainable, responsible and quality activity and we still count our successes (or failures) in numbers instead of in qualitative measures.

In other words we failed to take the opportunity of a global shutdown to start a new chapter for tourism. Can we not understand that tourism is and will be different to the pre-2020? Can we not get it into our thick brains that it is not about filling jobs and employment but about investing in our greatest asset – career-driven people? Can we simply not understand that what we need is to invest in people and not simply look for any body to lend a hand?

Last week I was at a four-star hotel in Qawra. I say it was a four-star establishment according to the MTA “standards” but it was actually a poor relation to a good three-star hotel. I will not mention the name just now because it seems the issues at this establishment are common across the islands – poor and disinterested management, non-existent service and hospitality and a “buffet” that may have a better spread in the staff canteen than the restaurant.

My experience brought home the fact we are not investing in our human resources – there is a sense of complete laissez faire in the staff, a lack of disinterest and coordination and total irresponsibility towards the protocols for Covid-19, for example, in this particular hotel there was a digital camera/temperature reader that was unattended, the coffee shop was full to capacity without the required distancing and masks were not always worn by guests and staff.

These are, as I said, common failings in most establishments on this island today. Are we trying to mar the respect and branding we achieved in the last years? Do we really think we can attract quality visitors with this sort of attitude? Why are the MTA enforcement personnel and the board not insisting on a clear code of conduct for quality tourism?

I really wish I did not have to be negative but the manner in which the authorities, some tourism businesses and enterprises and employees are acting, show that we have learnt nothing during the travel and tourism shutdown; we think people will continue to return again and again even if we deliver a shoddy sense of hospitality and service – well, I will say this very bluntly! There are plenty of other destinations worldwide offering real service and hospitality, countries that appreciate the visitor and do not take them for granted.

The visitors arriving today are simply passengers and evacuees from lockdowns and a year in isolation – they will take whatever is available now at the right price and accessibility. We need to get our act together – local authorities, local businesses and the local community. I will not repeat what I have mentioned again and again in my articles to date – but in summary we need to have commitment, trust and synergy. The commitment to deliver professional hospitality and service, the trust between host-visitor and between the three key stakeholders I have already mentioned and finally the synergy to achieve sustainability, responsibility and quality for tourism.

Recommendations for a better investment in tourism

1. Choose employees for their skills, qualifications and competencies not simply as “robots” to do manual work without the greetings, the smiles and the human touch that make all the difference.
2. Invest in your employees by giving them a relative salary for their skills, qualifications and competencies but more than that invest in building a team that works well together instead of scurrying around like hamsters on a wheel without direction.
3. Provide employees with incentives such as career development, salary improvements, bonuses for their work, ideas and innovative concepts.
4. Think of the tourism activity as that route to a sense of hospitality and service between host (staff) and the visitor and not just a “factory” to produce and reproduce tourism numbers.
5. Government needs to take tourism strategies seriously and not just produce colourful literature that has no real bearing on a successful activity.
6. Finally, ask the question: “Do I really want a successful, responsible and sustainable tourism activity or do I want the mass activity that brought over tourism, unsustainability and low paid, disgruntled employees who left us at the first opportunity?”

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.