Tourism minister downplays concerns about reputational damage from power cuts

The tourism minister has downplayed concerns about reputational damage to Malta's tourism sector following days of power cuts, saying there were reports of outages "from every country in the Mediterranean and Europe".

Responding to concerns voiced by operators about reputational damage following a more than 30-hour power cut in the capital, Tourism Minister Jo Etienne Abela said he was "not quite sure what you mean by that".

"If you see European statistics – and I'm not saying this to absolve our situation – but it would be silly not to understand that this is a situation that is affecting the whole region and beyond", Abela said.

"You will see that power outages are highest, not in Malta, but in Hungary, Greece, Slovenia... those are the statistics. If you don't want to go by statistics, that is fine."

One short-let accommodation operator in Valletta told The Business Picture yesterday that the cuts were "not about the refunds and financial losses, it’s about the reputation of the island”, adding that an incident like the recent outage "really trashes your reputation”.

The power cut in the capital and resulting lack of air conditioning led to guests leaving short-let accommodation and demanding refunds and compensation, with some left to sleep on the beach after their electronic locks failed to operate.

Attributing the outages to global warming, the minister said, "this is what climate change is about, unfortunately," while claiming that half of government departments in France were on "red alert" due to the heat.

"This is not just happening in Malta... this is a problem happening worldwide."

Abela said he and the rest of the government understood operators' frustrations, while stressing that the grid was being "constantly upgraded," with hundreds of millions of euros having already been spent.

Earlier on Friday, the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) issued a statement noting that events like Isle of MTV — which one hotel operator called a "slap in the face" for tourists left in the dark — were always required to use generators.

The MTA emphasised that "all mass events are required to operate through independent generator systems, ensuring that no additional demand is placed on the government’s general electricity supply".

Such a measure was in line with internationally recognised standards and best practices within the events industry, it said. 

Abela's words follow days of power cuts across Malta, with residents forced to abandon homes and seek refuge with friends and relatives and at booked accommodation amid the sweltering temperatures.  

One mother of two spent around nine hours in a Mellieħa café with functioning air conditioning on Wednesday to keep her son cool during a power cut.

Mensija residents staged a protest yesterday evening amid systemic blackouts affecting the area between St Julian's and San Gwann.

One mother of a three-month-old baby described feeling in "survival mode", while a dog owner said he was "afraid" and a woman said the preceding three nights had felt like "hell".

The state energy company and Energy Minister Miriam Dalli have laid the blame for the outages on record temperatures and demand on the grid.  

Enemalta said earlier this week that an “intense heatwave” had pushed demand on the grid to a record 741MW on Tuesday, stressing the country’s energy distribution network. Company chair Ryan Fava told journalists on Wednesday afternoon that Enemalta had been taken by surprise by the “alarming” demand.

The energy ministry has said that households and businesses that experienced outages of six hours or more during this week’s heatwave will be compensated for their losses.