Malta cannot take more ‘unchecked’ tourism growth, ADPD warns

Malta cannot take on more “unchecked” tourism growth, the ADPD warned on Saturday as it called for immediate action to address the problem “before it’s too late”.

In a statement, the Green Party said the negative impacts of tourism are now cancelling out the benefits after the sector was allowed to grow “at an excessive pace”.

“We should aim to reduce the number of tourists visiting us and instead focus on quality tourism,”  ADPD chairperson Sandra Gauci said as she urged for any tourist activity to be “planned and conducted with full respect towards residents”.

She pointed out tourism is now putting pressure on infrastructure and other local services in general, including waste management and the quality of the beaches, several of which have had to temporarily close in recent weeks.

“It is enough to see that the quality of our beaches has deteriorated due to infrastructure that cannot keep up with the increase in population, with drainage ending up in the sea on many occasions,” Gauci said.

In a recent article on US tabloid the New York Post, Malta was described as the “most crowded place in Europe", while the BookRetreats report cites Malta as Europe’s most tourist-dense island.

Meanwhile, Malta International Airport CEO Alan Borg earlier this week told Times of Malta that “without the flexibility to suspend biometric collection in exceptional circumstances”, non-EU passengers might end up facing long queues exceeding 40 minutes.

“Is this the red-carpet treatment and the ‘Welcome to Malta’ that we are preparing for visitors to our country?” Gauci said.

She added the weight of overtourism is also being felt in the construction industry, not only because of the increase in hotels but also because of speculation involving residential properties used for short-term lets.

Gauci urged the authorities to “control this so that residents’ needs come first”.