'Shabby islands' losing tourist allure

Malta was gradually losing ground as a tourist destination mostly because of the islands' shabbiness, poor state of the roads, and high cranes and rattling jackhammers which have transformed tourist spots into permanent construction sites, Alternattiva Demokratika's European parliament candidate Arnold Cassola said yesterday.

Prof. Cassola said the country should improve the tourist product if it was to sustain a sector so vital to the Maltese economy.

"The aim is not to increase the number of tourists but to spread them out over different seasons. Our country has great potential if we exploit niche areas such as diving holidays, eco-tourism, cultural tourism and agro-tourism," he said.

Prof. Cassola called for proper law enforcement to ensure that the country's attractions are well kept.

He criticised the Lm10 tax "imposed" on all Maltese residents who go abroad. "It was introduced in the 1990s. Successive governments increased it, even though it is, by current EU rules, unacceptable," he said.

He said existing monopolies that were impinging on the services sector must go if Malta is to offer competitive services, not just for tourists but also for the Maltese.

While negotiating with the European Union, the government had obtained derogations on certain monopolies that were unacceptable by today's standards.

AD chairman Harry Vassallo said Alternattiva had always acknowledged the importance of tourism. "In last year's budget, we criticised the rise in VAT when it came to services such as restaurants. And we still believe that VAT should go back to 15 per cent in this sector," he said.

Dr Vassallo said that according to a recent EU proposal, labour-intensive industries should be charged less tax in order to encourage them to invest in their operations.

Going back to the tourism industry and its problems, Dr Vassallo called for proper regulation by the authorities.

"It is unfair on Maltese entrepreneurs who have invested a collective Lm450 million in the tourism sector to operate in all this uncertainty.

"We are in favour of identifying the limits of tourism in Malta and we want the problems to be addressed."