Committee objects to 'political interference'

The Cottonera Joint Committee yesterday said tourism promotion for the area should be carried out "seriously".

It was objecting to a change of plan in the organisation of a meeting with tour operators, in conjunction with the Malta Tourism Authority.

The committee and the mayors of Vittoriosa, Senglea, Cospicua and Kalkara did not agree with the way a good initiative, agreed upon with the MTA, together with tour operators and travel agents, was changed at the eleventh hour, without their consultation. They did not agree with the presence of the Tourism Minister at the event, which is being held tomorrow, objecting to changing a commercial activity into a political one.

The programme was now only going to serve as political mileage for the minister, ruining the commercial aspect, they said.

The committee also feared that the departure of the tour operators from Sliema to Cottonera would detract from the attention on Cottonera and make it seem like an area that can only be visited by sea.

Although they would be welcoming the tour operators, the mayors would do so under protest against the MTA.

The tourism promotion of Cottonera should be done in a professional and commercial manner, without political interference, they said.