In June 2023, Olivia Gregoire, the French tourism minister, unveiled plans to combat overtourism. More specifically, her plan was meant to address the influx of tourists that was threatening “the environment, the quality of life for locals and the experiences for its visitors”.
The drive to limit tourism is not unique to France. In Barcelona, locals took to dousing tourists with water pistols. In Venice, residents are up in arms, saying that they might want to live off tourism but they certainly do not want their city to die because of it.
In Malta we are facing similar challenges.
MHRA president Tony Zahra has stated that Malta is nearing its maximum tourism capacity.
Economist Lino Briguglio went one step further, saying Malta has already exceeded its tourism carrying capacity.
According to the NSO, the number of people living in Malta in 2023 was 563,443. Tourism pushes this number up by a further 10 per cent. In other words, 620,000 people share the 246 square kilometres that make up our islands. These people use our roads, consume electricity and water, generate waste, make use of our hospital services, buy food and rent accommodation.
Not too far back, the total footfall of these islands was below 500,000. The effect of the increase in the number of feet on the ground is already being felt. We are seeing failures in our electricity generating system, rapid increases in the price of property purchases and rentals, increased waiting time in the public health service, an increase in the price of food, increased time wasted in traffic jams and sewage contamination in our seawater.
These are some of the tangible negative impacts. To this one must add the intangible effects represented mainly by the increased level of frustration experienced by locals who are feeling suffocated in their own country.
The government has started to acknowledge that its policy of growing the economy by importing labour has failed. The rapid economic growth experienced over the past decade came at too hefty a price. The government knows that it cannot simply reverse the situation by expelling the expats who are now integrated into our economy. Such draconian action would result in an economic shrinkage that would cripple the islands. At best the government can hope to slowly wean off the economy from the steroid of imported labour.
And what about tourism? Here too, the government is facing a crisis of its own making. The government has accepted planning applications that, if approved, will double the number of hotel beds on the island. To fill these hotel beds, the government would have to increase the number of tourists and, in so doing, exacerbate the problem of over-population.
Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo is saying that quality matters but so do numbers. It seems the minister is not realising that the former (quality) is being negatively impacted by the latter (numbers). And this problem is only going to get worse in the years to come.
We must look for comprehensive solutions that consider the quality of life of locals and residents while guaranteeing a visitor experience that meets expectations. The first step must be a scientific quantification of the problem. The opposition has for years been calling upon he government to conduct a carrying capacity exercise.
In Barcelona, locals took to dousing tourists with water pistols- Mario de Marco
A carrying capacity exercise would look at the islands’ resources and establish the population limit for each resource. This exercise would scientifically determine the load that can be carried by our road infrastructure, utilities infrastructure, health system and so on. This study should be the basis on which we can build a sustainable tourism and employment policy.
Other policy interventions should be considered. The MHRA president is advocating a cap on hotel beds to curb demand. Others would rather see an effort to limit the number of non-collective accommodation beds, given that collective accommodation, as opposed to non-collective private accommodation, help better contain tourist-related problems such as waste disposal, garbage collection and noise.
Malta, like other tourism destinations, has seen a rapid increase in the number of apartments rented out for short lets. Studies are showing that the negative impacts of this type of accommodation outweigh the positives. Just ask residents in Swieqi, Sliema, St Julian’s and other localities about this.
Around the world, countries and cities are seeking to properly regulate and control the number of Airbnb accommodation and total number of nights in a year that a property can be let out for. Should one perhaps consider doing the same in pursuit of a better balance between residents and tourists?
Rising tensions in any tourist destination between the interests of residents and tourists, including those over outdoor tables and chairs taking over our pavements and roads, need to be addressed rather than ignored.
The Nationalist Party, when elected in 1987, brought about a shift in Malta’s tourism, resulting in an increase in five- and four-star accommodation offerings. When, in the early 2000s, Malta was suffering from a drop in tourism numbers, a PN administration introduced low-cost carriers to bolster arrival numbers.
In pushing through important changes, we weighed numbers against quality and never sacrificed one for the other. How? By sound planning and control, two things that seem alien to a Labour government. Another reason why this island is crying out for change.
Mario de Marco is the Nationalist Party’s spokesperson on tourism.