For a long time, tourism has been considered the goose that lays golden eggs. Investment in the industry continues to grow even if experts warn that operators could be experiencing the effects of the law of diminishing returns: more capital investment giving lower returns.

The upgrading of the Marriott Hotel to a five-star resort through an investment of €40 million is one way of upgrading the standards of accommodation for tourists. It should help attract better spending visitors of the tourist market that demand high accommodation standards and excellent amenities beyond the hotel walls. The upcoming multi-million investment of db Group in St George’s Bay should also elevate the tourism product.

However, other news coming from the tourism sector is indeed worrying. According to a Deloitte report, an additional 483 hotels could crop up on the island in the coming years with almost half of them being designated as three-star. It seems that policymakers are determined to continue with their overtourism strategies that risk relegating the industry to more mediocrity in tourism standards.

Moreover, many tourists comment that, while specific top-end hotel accommodation standards are high, the Malta experience is marred by the inadequate infrastructure that one usually associates with three-star holiday destinations. Much could be done to upgrade the tourism experience for those willing to spend good money on their holidays here.

Just recently, the health authorities advised people that swimming in St George’s Bay and Balluta Bay, where the Marriott resort is located, was unsafe because the sea is contaminated with raw sewage. This is just one further piece of evidence that the physical infrastructure is nowhere near able to cope with the continuous increase in residential, catering and hotel accommodations in the Sliema and St Julian’s area.

One must also focus on the chaotic traffic situation, especially in tourist areas that is undoubtedly increasing noise, air and light pollution, which is certainly not what tourists look for when they decide to stay in five-star accommodation. There is no shortage of rhetoric by tourism policymakers to upgrade tourism amenities. Still, one needs to ask whether there is any solid evidence that enough is being done to curb mass tourism to relieve pressure on the crumbling physical infrastructure that undermines the island’s attractiveness in the eyes of the higher end of the tourism market.

Successful destinations like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Venice and even the Canary Islands show how the transition to quality tourism must be planned and executed. The most fundamental strategy is to first invest in the physical and human infrastructure to ensure that the brand promise of a thriving destination is indeed based on high standards of tourism amenities.

For too long, the industry has relied on low-cost labour, mostly imported, to keep expenses down while maximising returns. Malta cannot accommodate the predicted 4.7 million tourists without causing disruption.

It is time for policymakers and entrepreneurs to work on a multi-pronged strategy that sees more investment in human capital and physical infrastructure and less in mediocre catering and accommodation facilities.

It is difficult for a small tourism destination like Malta to support two tourism business models concurrently: one based on low-cost travel and relatively cheap rented accommodation for the lower end of the market and the other catering for well-spending visitors who expect the highest standards.

Policymakers’ fragmented approach to re-engineering the tourism industry must make way for challenging but realistic action plans to ensure operators reap the best investment returns. In contrast, the local population must no longer have to suffer the consequences of overtourism.