The tourism industry is in damage-limitation mode. The pandemic has had a devastating effect in the last two years and, were it not for substantial taxpayer support, many operators would have gone under.

Operators and policymakers are now tracking the recovery. Their sentiments range from mild optimism to lingering worries. Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo’s reaction has been to play down the importance of sheer numbers, saying the government’s focus is on quality and sustainability.

The short-term goal of the industry, however, is to reach the pre-pandemic volume of tourists seen in 2019, although that would not be a good yardstick of the overall health of the industry. But, since survival is currently the priority, one can understand the focus on short-term indicators.

Malta International Airport says that 673,000 tourists passed through in the first quarter of 2022. This is 44 per cent fewer than in the first quarter of 2019. Meanwhile, the Easter period shows a recovery to 85 per cent from the same week in 2019.

Operators are also focusing on statistics published by the Official Aviation Guide. By that measure, Malta is lagging behind competing Mediterranean destinations in the number of airline seats it can offer visitors during the summer.

Some operators blame the restrictive travel rules related to COVID for making Malta less attractive to holidaymakers. Undoubtedly, the at times confusing implementation of health protocols and the management of crowds of arrivals at the airport, creating bottlenecks, have not done very much to enamour the island with tourists.

In the past, the tourism industry could lobby the government to pressure Air Malta to increase seat capacity in a bid to lure more people to the islands. This time around, Air Malta has more painful priorities to address.

Little discussion is going on, at least in public, about how consumer behaviour is changing the tourism industry. Low-cost airlines are increasing their quoted prices as aviation fuel costs escalate. They manage their operations on strictly commercial lines and do not hesitate to cut down on scheduled flights when demand is insufficient to run viable operations on specific routes. Their loyalty is primarily to their shareholders rather than any particular country or industry.

Rising inflation in most of our markets for visitors is also reducing the spending power of prospective tourists. This may be another reason why tourism has not yet taken off as fast as some operators had anticipated.

The shock absorbers supplied by the government in the last two years, financed by tax money, are mostly still in place but they cannot be maintained forever. In the short term, the simplification of health protocols will help, enabling the industry to address the doubts that prospective visitors may have before making their bookings.

But the industry needs to do its part too. International travel experts have long warned that changes need to be made to render the industry sustainable. It appears policymakers are belatedly coming round to this idea.

A tourism strategy based on maximising the number of visitors and relying on low-cost imported labour was already unsustainable before COVID. The islands appear to have too many tourist beds too. The gold rush that took place in the wake of ever-rising numbers will leave many of those beds empty this summer.

It’s time to rethink the strategy. The minister’s stated commitment to quality is good news. While the short-term tactic of trying to fill as many hotel rooms and restaurant seats as possible is needed to reduce operators’ financial pain, in the longer term, restructuring cannot be postponed forever without risking the industry’s future.