Malta in the past was very conscious of attracting quality tourism, yet recently one notices a gradual degradation in quality tourists.
Last year, as has been the case with other Med. resorts, Malta also had an increase in arrivals. Statisticians tell us there is safety in numbers, yet so far nobody bothers about over-capacity. The Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) of late woke up to point out the danger of overtourism and the need for better control on new licenses for hotels.
The island could see an additional 483 hotels crop up if all the planned tourism accommodation projects in the pipeline ever come to fruition. But who cares? These insights were shared at MHRA’s latest hospitality forum during a presentation by Deloitte. A pivotal aspect was the latest situation of hotel occupancy.
Inter alia, the study revealed how a vast majority of planned new accommodations (41%) are designed to be three-star offerings, which means such projects might not necessarily align with the national vision to accommodate “high quality” tourists. Currently the per capita spend by tourists is a low €149 daily.
At this point, faced with a surge of “hamburger” class arrivals, one might pause and question why we are kicking the can? Deloitte exclaimed concern about how the incidence of three-star and other planned accommodations, which are set to have less than 100 rooms, throwing into question whether these can survive in the long-term. Doing the sums, unless they employ more low-wage TCNs, even new five-star accommodations may not be sustainable.
For many years, established hotels and other tourism industry stakeholders have been concerned about their shrinking share of the market. This share is diminishing with the planned permits for large scale new builds. Another MHRA study revealed a shocking message that the island would need to see 4.7 million tourists a year to keep its present occupancy rates afloat.
It’s worth reminding readers that, unfortunately, Comino – with its unique Blue Lagoon – is being flooded by day-trippers, littering the area while dancing to loud music from five licensed kiosks selling alcohol-infused grapefruits. Blue Lagoon operators running kiosks, water sports activities, deckchair rentals and other commercial services will likely face higher encroachment and permit fees starting in summer this year.
Speaking on Times Talk last month, the new tourism minister Ian Borg vowed to “clean up” Comino, add sanitary facilities and introduce stricter and fairer concessions for boat, kiosk and deckchair operators. He felt committed to issue tenders (instead of direct orders as was the previous practice) for all future concessions guaranteeing transparency and fairness.
Another parallel problem facing the island is over-population, which again last summer, has led to persistent power cuts (sporadically supplemented by portable noisy diesel generators parked outside residential areas and clinics). No doubt, such blackouts add to infrastructure pressures resulting from chaotic traffic and sewage issues. Sewage blockages remain a major issue, with stakeholders reporting that the sewage networks are operating “vastly beyond designed capacity in certain key areas” which often results in sewage seeping into the sea – just to mention the popular Balluta Bay, which for two months, health authorities advised bathers to avoid swimming after water tests confirmed contamination.
Can we do something to turn the clock back to serenity? Yes, just notice how competitors in the central Mediterranean, such as Spain and Venice, started a policy to disincentivise excessive tourism in certain periods, in line with the fragility and uniqueness of the resorts. Needless to remind readers about rallies in the Canary Islands where residents have highlighted problems of overtourism. They also increasingly want a better type of tourist: one who respects local culture and nature, not one who drinks cheap beer on the beach and leaves their empty bottle behind with a cigarette butt stubbed in the sand.
According to tourism researcher and Aalborg University professor Carina Ren, there have always been badly behaved tourists; it’s just that there are more of them now than ever. In Spain’s Balearic Islands, renowned for nightlife destinations such as Ibiza and Magaluf, restrictions on alcohol have come into force in a bid to regain control over its disorderly streets. Moving on, we observe that in heavily visited Venice, day-trippers are now charged a fee in an effort to curb the continuous influx of visitors.
Whereas in Malta citizens simply grumble in silence, regularly air their grievances on social media, yet they never unite and march to Valletta voicing their anger against a noticeable degradation in the environment. Can we learn from other resorts to live a quieter life and protect our sensitive ecosystem, before Mother Nature starts hitting us back with climate change and its dire consequences?
