This week the news was focused on the nomination of the  Chair of the Malta Tourism Authority.  These islands today need to take a different angle to tourism, we need people leading this industry who can inspire, motivate, and drive tourism in a sustainable and responsible way.  This is not just a socio-economic industry based on numbers and basic income but a very delicate socio-cultural activity that must be based on quality, hospitality and service.  It is time we took a good long look at what has been going wrong in the last decade and what it will take to put this right - if the islands had a person, a leader at the forefront of the Authority who believed in the professional management of tourism.

The management of tourism does not teach people how to run accommodation, catering, and tourism agencies and operators, it teaches them how to apply the technical aspects of tourism to a sustainable and responsible activity that creates a destination based on quality, not quantity; how to employ career seekers not simply human resources that are looking for jobs; investing in professional and useful research with academic institutions and planning tourism through the integrated approach.

This approach to managing tourism means that the decision makers within an autonomous Tourism Authority must lead from the front and the back, they must not be immobile figureheads who are just in it for the ego and the six-figure salary and extras; they must add value to the work that was done in the past, tourism is constantly changing and 'any professional worth their investment must go the extra ten miles! I have my usual six suggestions for compiling a framework to the Standards of Performance for a competent, skilled and qualified Chair of the Tourism Authority:

1.      The person needs to have the experience and understanding of the science of managing tourism, this means knowing how to apply the operational techniques for a successful activity that benefits all the key stakeholders - the local authorities, the local businesses, and the local community.

2.      There needs to be a process for ensuring that sustainability and responsibility are implemented into the tourism activity, and is effective and not just considered as a political animal bandied about for the benefit of a few but for everyone.

3.      Research must be taken seriously and not used simply as a tool that any government can use for political gain.  Research must be the result of cooperation between academics and practitioners.

4.      The Tourism Authority must be restructured according the MTTSA of 1999 again including all the directorates that were originally set out to cover a broad spectrum of the industry.

5.      The autonomy of this authority must be respected and at no time should any politician, Minister or Government lean on the Chair or CEO.

6.      Finally, the period of engagement for the CEO and Chair must be limited to a five year session - this will ensure that there is no familiarity,  that new ideas can be forthcoming, and that the authority keeps a fresh outlook.

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.

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.