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Our tourism industry suffers from one major drawback: the high cost to travel to Malta. This is the prime cause of the decline in tourism. While low cost airlines are increasingly welcomed in almost all holiday resorts, agreement between Ryanair or any other cheap airline and government appears unreachable.
There are valid arguments on both sides.
The final decision should be taken in the long-term national interest and not in the short-term interest of our national airline.
It appears inevitable that the arrival of Ryanair will put strains on Air Malta.
This will result in job losses. Government is right to be concerned about this but wrong not to have recognised earlier that membership of the European Union would inevitably lead to increased competition and a strain on jobs.
In all fairness, there will be equal pressure on all the other scheduled airlines operating to and from Malta. On a positive note however, the arrival of low cost travel to Malta will inevitably bring more tourists to our shores, not necessarily from the bottom end of the market since Ryanair has also become the favourite airline of persons from all social backgrounds. Reduced costs to fly to Malta could open up a new weekend traveller to Malta. Lower pricing could also lead to persons acquiring a second home or a retirement home in Malta with all the benefits that foreign residences brings to our economy.
The problem, it would appear, in the eyes of the government is the survival of Air Malta and the long-term interests of MIA – Malta International Airport, where government has a minority stake and is divesting its interests.
This contrasts greatly with government’s all too easy readiness to dispose of countless other government companies and interests. While appreciating government’s concern, we would suggest that government sees the bigger picture and takes a deeper look at the long-term survival prospects of our tourism industry.
Its over-protection of the national airline betrays a Mintoffian mindset and warped nationalism in an ever-growing, globalised world.
In a choice between the survival of our airline and our tourism industry there is little doubt where government’s preference should lie. It bears mentioning that we do not believe that attention to the national airline and opening up to low cost airlines are necessarily conflicting. Indeed lateral thinking could suggest the advantages of Air Malta looking at Ryan air as a strategic partner. After all, the placing of six aircraft in Malta and feeding services to as many as twenty destinations, ushers in the hub concept which was the dream of previous Air Malta policy makers.
So why the antagonism and the delay in deciding?
Needless to say, the reality of one local airport does complicate matters since landing charges granted to a low cost airline can in no way be lower than those charged to schedule airlines operating from the same airport. Surely this difficulty can be overcome in keeping with the commitment being given by Ryanair to bring over a determined number of travellers and to be penalised if set targets are not met.
We would urge both parties to reach agreement and fast since our tourism industry is in dire need of a shot in the arm. We would however be naïve to feel that the prospects of our tourism depend exclusively on the arrival of low cost airlines. This would be a very positive development but on its own will not be enough. The way forward together with low cost travel to Malta is for all the stake holders to go back to basics. The industry requires good housekeeping, excellent service and value for money. We have to be committed to the details and most especially to selling a Maltese product. It is the traditional Maltese smile, Maltese food, Maltese folklore that could be our unique selling point. Our traditional hospitality and smile seem to have vanished. Ironically, this all happened as the numbers of tourists visiting us increased. Draconian measures also need to be introduced to curb the excesses of the construction industry which is a direct treat to the future development of tourism in Malta. If re-branding is to have a meaning it must be associated and move hand in hand with an improvement in the tourist product. This essentially means going back to basics – cleaning up the country offering value for money and most of all being customer focused.
We also have some doubts on the price of the creation of further golf courses will create. Will the alleged, to date unquantifiable, economic benefit arising from the increase in tourism golfers be worth the environmental price paid? We have our doubts and are yet to be convinced.
Government is best advised to go back to basics rather than to embark on yet another grandiose project whose sustainability in the absence of adjoining real estate development is suspect.
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