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The industry of tourism is a global competitive business that is changing continuously. We must change our own tourism products and services not to fall behind. We must ensure that we are providing what today’s travellers are looking for, otherwise they will simply go somewhere else. There are thousands of other destinations working hard and skilfully to attract travellers to them.
Other destinations are also innovating themselves to be able to offer tourists a tourism experience shaped and enriched by friendliness, price, quality of environment and diversity of culture. Innovation in tourism is a dynamic process, made up of many small steps to improve products and reduce the cost of processes.
The Labour Party’s action plan to revive tourism in Malta and Gozo has at least 100 proposals to be implemented by government, the private sector, the social partners and civil society in a whole-country approach to build a stronger tourism industry for the longer term. The Labour Party consulted widely and thoroughly in a long consultation process over the last few months. The result is a well-designed short-term action plan with a long-term vision and strategy.
Labour’s action plan is designed on the basis that success in tourism depends on a whole-country approach: collaboration and coordination within government and with the private sector and civil society. Success in tourism can only be achieved through a genuinely national tourism strategy drawn up and implemented by the full range of players in the public and private sectors.
Labour’s action plan commits the government to ease the burden of taxation, understanding that the high cost of tourism products and services in Malta and Gozo is partly as a consequence of high taxation. Government must use its fiscal measures to help our islands compete with other destinations.
The action plan includes a whole list of proposals on how to improve the business environment for tourism to succeed and how to improve the tax and regulatory framework to make tourism a viable business that can improve the quality of life of all the people involved in it. The action plan also proposes initiatives on how to make tourism a whole year business activity for Malta and Gozo by attracting a whole range of tourists from our traditional markets like the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy and new markets like China.
Sergio Grech
“Without literature I feel trapped in eternal darkness,” says Sergio Grech. He does not hesitate to say: “literature is the answer to humankind’s disasters.” He is a zealous missionary, working hard through his own writings, readings organised by his literary group and his programmes on the media to spread the benefits of literature to as many people as possible.
Sergio feels that as long as Malta was a military fortress in the hands of a dominant power, few Maltese could express themselves. “But as time went by, distinguished Maltese personalities had the courage to take up the pen in their hands and start writing down their feelings. It doesn’t make sense to compare it with foreign literature. However, our literature is much alive. We do not have Garcia Marques but who can deny the power of Ruzar Briffa’s lyrical poetry or Trevor Zahra’s strong contributions to children’s literature?”
Sergio’s favourite authors are Milan Kundera, Ivan Klima, Vaclav Havel, Dario Fo, Gabriel Garcia Marques and Alda Merini. “Merini’s poems simply touch your heart and soul. I interviewed Klima myself for a local Sunday newspaper. This man gave his energy and his life struggling against oppressive communism. I enjoy reading Havel’s letters to Olga written in jail and, above all, his plays.”
His local favourite writers include Trevor Zahra, Mario Azzopardi, Immanuel Mifsud and Maria Grech Ganado. “Azzopardi made our poetry take great leaps forward. I strongly believe that Zahra’s Lubien and Provenz deserve to be on a Vintage or Faber and Faber’s list. Mifsud’s prose is simply original and maybe considered as the best output from the new generation. He has a sound understanding of a world that is changing daily.”
Sergio strongly believes that only the media can reach a wider circle of young people to promote Maltese literature among them. “Unfortunately Maltese books rarely feature on our TV programmes or news bulletins. Campus FM, Radju Malta, RTK and Education 22 are filling some gaps.” But Sergio agrees that writers themselves are to blame if writers ignore young people (by not writing about their issues). For Sergio the main notable exceptions are “Immanuel Mifsud, Charles Casha and Trevor Zahra. Casha and Zahra wrote for this age group. Take Zahra’s Sfidi. You can easily pick up a number of themes and situations well known to young people: racism (which in schools is rampant), failed marriages, sms’s, e-mails, websites, etc. Casha’s ‘L-Appartament’ should satisfy the adolescents perfectly. Maybe we still lack a lot of books for this age.”
Sergio thinks that even our educational system is partly to blame for the gap between writers and young people. “Teachers tell pupils to read only to gain higher marks in their compositions. Students are being presented over and over again with texts that lack contemporary stuff and thus we are giving the impression that the Maltese literature is only Zepp u Grezz. How can we ignore Immanuel Mifsud’s books or Trevor Zahra’s fresh ideas for children?”
Sergio would like TV, Internet, mobile phone to be used as allies to spread Maltese literature more in Malta, Gozo and beyond but is not very hopeful that this will happen. “Our TV schedules are full of low quality programmes. Is it possible that TV owners do not feel responsible to give their viewers something decent? It is a comfortable excuse to say that Maltese prefer trash. The viewers take what you feed them. You can give your viewers popcorn but you can also give them caviar.”
evaristbartolo@hotmail.com
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