Whither tourism

The Malta Independent on Sunday Whither tourism`

The restaurant was highly recommended.` As it was my turn to take friends out for dinner we agreed to give it a try. The reservation was prompt and I was even offered the courtesy of a reserved parking space close to the restaurant in the heart of Bugibba.

The restaurant ambience was nothing out of this world but the food was.` It was as good as any I got in the best restaurants of the world. The menu was restricted but very original. The service was impeccable. The price was not cheap but it was fair for the quality offered. Considering that we consumed an average of half a bottle of classy foreign wine per capita the bill kept us within Lm20 per head, tips excluded.

So what, you are probably asking, am I complaining of` Nothing to do with the restaurant itself but all to do with the state of our economy in general and tourism in particular. Last tuesday we were alone in this restaurant. Just our table of four. Not that I like crowded restaurants. But being alone and having the whole restaurant for ourselves is quite different. Indeed it is disheartening.` It takes away the pleasure of the event knowing that the cost structure cannot sustain such quality at such a low level of turnover.

Initially I thought that the restaurant could have just opened its doors and may be it was not marketing itself well. But I was assured that it was long established in the area and that business used to be thriving especially in peak summer. But this year all nearby hotels had to fill with low quality budget tourists , mostly students. And the locals are cutting severely on their entertainment spend, restricting it mainly for the weekend.

In the Malta that I dream of, such a restaurant would be turning away business at the door. It would be hard to secure a place at the table without a 48 hour prior reservation. If only we can discover the true potential with which to exploit our tourist markets and carry the industry to a higher level from the shabby platform it has got stuck to.

And just in case anybody thinks that our EU vocation will solve such problems for us, I assure that it has nothing to do with. The solution has to be within us. Indeed the whole EU debate has not really touched on the real issue of the debate.` The real issue is: if we opt to stay out of the EU do we have the leadership quality needed to impose sustainable discipline on the country to carry it forward to the efficiency levels with which we can compete in the global market If we do, than there is no question to my mind that staying out is much more promising, both politically and economically.

But if we come to miss these leadership qualities, which currently we are missing badly, is there a real alternative to seeking EU membership to engage an external agent to impose on us the discipline that we cannot impose on ourselves`

Take the tourism context.` We can easily market our country on the EU market as a place with a difference. So near and yet so different. So small and yet so varied. The punch of our marketing message has to be:` What you can see in Malta in three or four days you cannot see in any other country within the same flight range. That`s the message which distinguish us from competing destination. That`s what re-inforces our strengths and hides our weaknesses. It needs no huge research. It needs common sense, a focussed approach, a determination to go through some bad times until we reach the higher platforms. We have to go down some valleys before we reach higher, richer plateaux.

In an environment like that we would Air Malta` doubling its flight income for serving the same number of tourist bednights.` We would be appealing to higher middle class tourists who are too busy to take a long holiday but are dying to take a short break. And we would be bringing in tourists who appreciate our cultural treasures, our history, our architecture, our arts and our linguistics. Hopefully this would place the industry on` a sound commercial footing permitting solid investment in our heritage sites, in our transport systems ( why can`t I waive a taxi off the road and pay Lm2 to drive me just a handful of kilometres`) , in our road network to ensure these are up-graded to the same level of our hotels which are already amongst the best in the region.

It is in this scenario that I will have to struggle to reserve a table at the restaurant. Until then I will have to keep hoping that I won`t be alone again or I would have to find a weekend baby-sitter.