Tourism competitiveness

Having followed the issues of the day in The Times during another wonderful holiday, I ask myself what might be done to improve the image and prospects of the Maltese tourist industry in the face of worldwide economic downturn. The news in the UK is that middle incomers are facing a £2,000 reduction in income, which is bound to hit holiday spending.

So what can be done in the eyes of one with memories of 50 years ago when lampuki were a metre long, Maltese bread baked with fresh yeast and sour dough was irresistible, cheesecakes were round and tasted altogether different and restaurants served timpana to die for?

I was very encouraged by the enormous range of positive initiatives in animal welfare, permaculture, litter picking, waste recycling, shooting bag reduction, heritage conservation, provision of clean public toilets, solar power, road building and air quality, to name a few.

The Stray Animals Support Group (SASG) charity shops are a hugely welcome development. Treatment of cab horses needs little qualification. Visibly high welfare status is crucial to the future of the karozzin when the potential customer is likely to have read one of the 50 million copies of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty sold worldwide. Every cab horse owner should read it to understand the psyche of his market. Provision of sun shelters, water and forage are just as important to winning fare-paying customers as are demonstrably high standards of hygiene to food retailing and catering.

Changes in social attitudes all have a beginning and the volunteer litter picking at St Elmo reported in The Times is a welcome indicator. While I waited for a bus at Buġibba, two young visitors who picked up litter drew the comment “crazy” from a bus driver. This is the public attitude that has to change and, thankfully, The Times is giving a lead. A cleaner, tidier Malta would be a more upmarket tourist destination, spelling greater prosperity for all but to achieve it littering has to become socially unacceptable. Thought also has to be given to better containment of domestic rubbish put out for collection. Months of no appreciable rainfall to wash pavements clean demand it.

Artisan bakeries that produce real Maltese bread, not its modern lookalike, need accreditation and identification. With a logo perhaps? I went to the bread festival at Qormi but was unable to find the flavour of childhood memory.

Malta Crafts Council and Visitmalta promote the craft workshops at Ta’Qali and Ta’ Dbiegi. However, there are gems to be found that are not located in these craft villages. Pots with a beautiful tawny glaze that I bought from Peter the Potter, Rabat and Maltese lace design sgraffito ware from Ċeramika Maltija, San Anton are inspiring reminders of our holiday. Artists and craft workers outside the main centres need identifying to the visitor.

“Out of season”, when the weather cools down, is the time for cycling. Living in the UK, one of the most cycling unfriendly countries in Europe, I am acutely aware of how attractive Malta could be on two wheels if more provision were made for it. Bicycle hire is a nascent business sector that is helping attract sportsmen and women, delivering clean air, better health and less traffic congestion.

Malta’s new bus service does not need any more flak from me although I am very tempted to supply it. One hopes that over the winter months Arriva will sort out running the buses on time. Inadequate public transport has impacts right across the economy.

Change throws up surprising opportunities. The publicity given to honey bee problems in Europe and the US has attracted many new converts to beekeeping. The public interest in the demonstration hive on the Fawwara Honey stall at the St Paul’s Bay fish festival suggests a tourist attraction that ties in with the orange blossoms at Buskett Gardens.

One looks forward to the return of a ferry service with Libya so the visitor to Malta can take in Leptis Magna, the best preserved Roman ruins outside Rome, the Maltese islands resuming their position as the hub of the Mediterranean.

All the signs are that the increasingly highly-educated and well-travelled Maltese knows in his bones what needs to be done to make the tourist industry more competitive. Here in Scotland in the Western Isles mañana is considered indecent haste. Under sleepy sunny Mediterranean skies one has more excuse to put off what needs to be done until tomorrow but the present recession has sharpened the necessity and urgency.