Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has gone to social media to voice his concerns about Malta's tourism sector. His social media post was inspired by two articles which recently featured in the English newspaper "The Sun". One of these articles described Malta as an ideal location for Brits to enjoy "good food, cheap booze and legal weed".

Gonzi expressed his frustration over this negative publicity of Malta's public image. These stories were published with images showing youths on the floor, some of whom look out of it.

The former PM displayed his dissatisfaction over the country's worsening image, highlighting how just 5 years ago in 2018, Malta was contrastingly being praised for having Valletta selected as one of the European Capitals of Culture for that year, an initiative which Gonzi said was an initiative his government had led. Now, he said, "we are being painted as a country where English can come to pig out on good food, drink and cannabis."

Gonzi pinned blame onto the present government for failing to attract quality tourists. "Instead of quality tourists who enjoy beauty, history and culture, we ended up hearing of cases where foreign workers, paid a pittance, living eight in an apartment to divide the expenses."

Gonzi continued questioning the nature of the government's overall strategy.

In his Facebook post, he also said that Maltese have invested millions into local boutique hotels, 5-star hotels, penthouses, and lucrative apartments, but said that the government didn't care about it.

He concluded his social media post by stating that "they have lost the plot". He asked, "where are the social partners? How is it that nobody has said anything?" He queried how an MCESD meeting takes place regarding the situation following the electricity failings yet nothing of substance or good for the country comes out of it.