I would like to pick up where I left last week regarding the challenge we have as a country when it comes to quality and quantity in the tourism sector. I had put two questions. First, is our tourism sector sustainable? Second, can we create the right balance between quantity and quality?

I received feedback from a number of persons who operate in the tourism sector. My objective is not to answer to this feedback but to share some more thoughts about the issue.

I was advised to have a look at what the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry wrote in 2020 in its national strategy for the environment, using the term “smart, sustainable island”.

The Malta Chamber stated that it is important to prioritise quality over quantity across sectors, including tourism, in the development of policies and in their implementation and enforcement.

Underpinning this argument is our country’s carrying capacity. Stretching further the country’s carrying capacity risks causing permanent damage.

We have, in fact, stretched further and we have caused permanent damage to our islands and our well-being.

The Malta Chamber published the document in 2020. That was the year the coronavirus hit us. We survived the pandemic and emerged from it with some pain, but quite manageable pain. What we may not have realised was that the coronavirus gave us the opportunity to start afresh. It gave us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves. Unfortunately, we did not take up this opportunity.

Policymakers need to listen to all stakeholders. Then they have to weigh their options

We could have had less tourist arrivals but higher spending ones. We could have created the balance between quality and quantity, and rendered our tourism sector sustainable. To paraphrase what the Malta Chamber said in the 2024 Pre-Budget Document proposal, we could have invested our marketing efforts more towards quality tourism that respects our history, culture and character.

This leads to another thought. I believe that a significant number of operators across the tourism sector have no clue about our history, culture and character, and could not care less about it. So here we are at conflicting poles. There are those who believe that the best of what we can offer are our history, culture and character, and on the opposing side, we have those who are just after making a quick buck, irrespective of the damage they cause.

This week’s news of the Planning Authority ignoring a decision by the chief justice and of small-time operators occupying the sea around popular bays with their boat moorings ‒ after they have taken up every inch of space available of our shore with their umbrellas and deckchairs ‒ are strong indications of this uncontrolled greed.

This gets me to the final thought. Policymakers need to listen to all stakeholders. Then they have to weigh their options. With the decisions they take, they are bound to please some people and upset others. I get the feeling today’s decisions are aimed more at pleasing those who do not see beyond the end of their nose, and ignore the country’s long-term needs.

This has already come back to bite us and will continue doing so to the detriment of our children’s and country’s well-being. The problem is not going to go away.