This week we all read about the grotesque projects that are intended to destroy the local character, culture and history. One of these will completely entrench the famous “Ghajn Rasul” – the fresh water spring that was made sacred by the presence of St Paul during his tay on the islands after his shipwreck and the other is the development of a hotel that will change the core of Birkirkara and destroy the famous residence that once belonged to Vincent Brared, a famous patriot who fought against the French who occupied the islands at the beginning of the 19th Century. I must say, whoever is sanctioning these projects certainly does not have the national interest at heart nor the developoment of a quality tourism destination.
In my last article, I wrote about the recent article that everyone has been spreading around the social media taken from one of the grottiest and low-class tabloids in the UK. The sun actually made out that these islands are attracting the drug-ridden and worst visitors to this destination. Why? Because it is easy to take cannabis today here, it is easy to be irresponsible, to disregard local culture, heritage and character because the tourist is king. These are thoughts that go beyond the ethics and principles of real tourism as set out in the “Global Code of Ethics” published some years ago by the UNWTO. These are thoughts that have degraded the islands that , up to a decade ago, had the reputation of an island that was starting to attract quality not the quantity that brought in the hordes of tourists who cared nothing about where they were coming or what their civic responsibilities are. Are you, therefore, surprised that The Sun “advertises” these islands as a destination of debauchery, drugs and rampant misbehavior? If you want a destination that is welcoming, hospitable and provides service you must be ready to offer these qualities to all visitors and persons – as the host or visitor. Tourism, it has been stated, is like a fire – it can warm your home or it can burn it down. You are going the right way to burning down this activity by attracting the visitors for the wrong reason and here are my six proposals to change this tide around:
1. Service and Hospitality must be part of the character of any host community not some commercial activity that belongs to the myopic businessperson.
2. Tourism must be seen as that socio-cultural activity that brings people together as friends not as the client and the shopkeeper.
3. These islands have so much to offer in terms of history, heritage, traditions and character; why waste your energy to copy those destinations that prefer to attract visitors for superficial reasons such as wild parties and irresponsibility?
4. Look at the visitor as that person you can welcome into your home as a friend not as some criminal who would rather destroy your heritage.
5. Stand up to those who are destroying your culture, heritage and history from within – the developers who would rather build a hotel in a historic village core; that developer who commits a sacrilege by building and defacing a historical and holy place blessed by St. Paul. These are your heritage and as the stewards you must care for them not ignore their destruction.
6. Finally, look at tourism as the apolitical activity that will bring cultures together.
This week I must reiterate that, if those responsible authorities and government politicians do not listen or heed my warnings and suggestions they will be totally responsible for the “Tourism Armageddon” I am predicting will happen very soon. This week I scanned some interviews made on social media in Paceville among the so-called tourist population; it was sickening to see such low class, low educated, persons praise the islands – not for its natural and cultural beauty – but for drugs, wild parties and pure debauchery. Is it possible that the Malta Tourism Authority and the Ministry for Tourism are pleased with these results in rethinking, redeveloping and restoring tourism after the pandemic? We are turning a destination that once attracted tourists for hospitality and service into a place very similar in character to Hades or Dante’s Inferno!
I look at the five star hotels around the islands, in fact I look at all the hotels that once attracted real tourists; I see what employees work there today and I compare them to the committed persons I remember there, those persons who trained as professionals thirty years ago, those persons who were proud to welcome tourist and make them feel at home – they are the real definition of an employee in a job and one who believed in a career.
Certainly the present attitude about hospitality and service is leading to a reputation that is driving away the real tourist and making room for the visitors who lack education, civic sense of duty and behavior. I will list my six points to try and turn around this absolute shambles for tourism on these islands:
1. We must start to learn about the management of tourism – how to practice hospitality, service and treating visitors with respect as persons not a statistic.
2. Tourism is not about attracting numbers to satisfy the hotel developer and owner, it is about having a civil sense of duty to ensure the destination retains its natural and built character.
3. It is time to weed out, name and shame and get rid of the 21st Century “cowboy” who has left such a negative reputation on these destinations – start by steering clear of their business and outlets.
4. On the other hand, hold up and praise those dedicated and professional persons who are proud of their sense of hospitality, service and quality.
5. Encourage young graduates of tourism to participate in the planning and development of a new tourism activity based on real quality.
6. Finally, adopt that integrated approach for tourism planning where the three key stakeholders – the local authority, the local business and the local community work together consistently and constantly to turn this shambles into a tourism destination of quality again – this could be a project which is ideal for implementation as “the spring -clean for tourism in Malta and Gozo” from next year. But we must work hard together now to change the present chaos!
By following these six stages, we can ensure that these islands are managed professionally, sustainably and with the idea of developing a quality activity that attracts the visitor who wants to be here not the one who wants to be here. Travel and Tourism to these islands today is about quantitative gains for the greedy and uncouth. We need to put professionalism and hospitality back in the equation.
Still more facts in this short article that I hope will continue to encourage more people to write in and assist in the compilation of the Guidelines to Stewardship by Q3 of 2023. Thank you to all those who have already shown their support from as far as the UK, Switzerland and Germany (incidentally three of our key source markets). If we persist in ignoring these facts then , as I have said, tourism here will be an activity that may just attract sordid and nasty characters instead of the visitor who wants to be here – let us keep persisting.
This year I will be completing the Guidelines for Stewardships with the help of a number of individuals and NGOs who have already approached me and I hope to present this to you, as the community, to our politicians and to our authorities. We may, yet, be able to save these islands from total oblivion as a sustainable and quality tourist destination – that is my New Year’s resolution. Will YOU join me?
Dr Julian Zarb is a researcher, local tourism planning consultant and an Academic 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.