Global tourism is a fast-growing industry that now accounts for over 10 per cent of global GDP. Malta’s tourism industry has grown significantly since independence. In 2019, 2.75 million tourists visited our islands. Is it possible to have too much of a good thing in such a prospering industry?

The country’s tourism policymakers seem to be asking this question. However, they have so far been ambivalent on whether we should continue to increase volume despite apparent signs of stress caused by tourism on the physical and social infrastructure. Malta Tourism Authority chair Gavin Gulia called for the industry to ‘unite’ behind a shared decision on the future direction of the industry. Tourism Minister Julia Farrugia repeated the oft heard official exhortation that the tourism industry must “continue moving forward”, implying that over-tourism is not an issue.

Over-tourism is an issue in an island that is already overpopulated and experiencing a daily boost of 53,000 tourists over and above the local population. Malta offers an urban type of tourism where ribbon development in the last half-century has led to one big conurbation with ever shrinking rural areas.

Promoting number growth in tourism without due consideration of the cost of this growth in terms of use of natural resources, socio-cultural impact, pressures on the physical infrastructure and mobility and congestion management is a short-sighted planning approach for the industry.

For many European cities like Barcelona, Venice and Amsterdam, over-tourism is an undeniable reality. It is even more so for a small island like Malta that has seen its population mushroom in the last several years. Tourism growth is a result of growing affordability supported by low-cost carriers and the recent emergence of home-sharing platforms. The country needs a blueprint and smart planning to ensure that the added value that the tourism industry generates is indeed sustainable.

Merely appealing for the industry to unite is hardly the kind of vision that operators expect from policymakers. Left to their own devices, many private operators in the industry would opt to optimise their profits in the short term. This objective could be best achieved by boosting tourist numbers while asking the rest of the local community and the government to bear the socio-economic costs supporting this continuing growth.

The local policymakers should lead the industry by defining a strategy that benefits the whole community. Malta suffers from imbalances of visitors during certain seasons, days of the week, and times of the day. Mdina, with its hundreds of daily visitors, for instance, often looks more like an open-air North African bazaar on weekdays than the unique enchanting silent city. The same applies to Valletta when a cruise liner or two visit our ports. Destinations like Mdina and Valletta must develop tactics to smooth these imbalances, so communities and businesses can continue to reap the benefits of tourism.

Accommodation supply also needs to be more regulated to ensure high standards of accommodation in both hotels and short-term rentals. Enforcement of fiscal regulations should not be optional for those who directly or indirectly benefit from the public investment in the industry financed by taxpayers’ money.

As in any economic activity, in tourism top line is vanity, the bottom line is sanity. The cost paid by the community to support the growing tourist numbers is the reality that needs to be quantified.