Tourism's strategic plan

The Malta Tourism Authority's Strategic Plan for 2000-2002 is a serious and professional attempt to market Malta's tourism product and to come to terms with the sector's long-term needs and trends. The setting up of the Authority last year was the first step in the right direction and now this is being followed by a set of programmes which will hopefully be followed through by the various directorates within the MTA.

Prior to the strategic plan being launched a wide-ranging consultative process was held with a whole spectrum of stakeholders in the tourism industry and this should be welcomed. Whether or not the MTA has the power or clout to really put its plan into action as opposed to simply recommending policies to the government is still to be seen.

The importance of tourism to the country's economy cannot be over-emphasised. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in 1999 amounted to Lm347m and this accounts for 24.3 per cent of Gross National Product. Furthermore, 27 per cent of employment in Malta is supported by tourism expenditure - some 41,000 jobs. It is therefore right of the MTA to take stock of the situation and to come up with a long-term plan for this sector.

Malta's likely membership of the European Union is likely to increase pressure on the country to improve its tourism product - and there is plenty of improvement needed as competition increases from a whole range of tourist destinations.

The MTA points out four major challenges which need to be addressed: a repositioning of Malta into a destination of choice; the development, upgrading and maintenance of vital components of the existing tourism product; a focus on quality standards; and a new approach to current marketing strategies and target markets.

The corporate strategy includes delivering value and customer satisfaction to tourists by upgrading the product, the environment and the quality of service; the implementation of programmes to exploit Malta's unique location and heritage; the diversification of markets to improve seasonality and value; providing information for decision making; the regulation of the industry on the basis of defined standards; and the building of alliances with all the stakeholders in the tourism industry.

The above challenges certainly make sense and strategies suggested are well thought out and necessary to improve our tourism product,

however the major problem is that the Malta Tourism Authority's main function is to advise the government on tourism policy, recommend strategies for an improved product and market Malta as a holiday destination. With the main exception of its power to monitor, classify and control the licensing of and standards provided in or by tourism operations, the Authority lacks any executive powers. So it can spend millions of liri on advertising Malta, research and marketing, all of which are both necessary and positive, but it unfortunately lacks the clout to actually improve the tourism product.

Encouraging tourists to come over to Malta and properly marketing our country is one thing, but actually having the power to improve the product you are selling is quite another. What is the point of spending so much money on marketing when the product itself (Malta) is not improved?

Does the MTA have the authority to improve our terrible roads and public transport system, to do something about the disgraceful state of the environment and the poor service and expensive prices of many of our restaurants, to reduce the exorbitant taxi charges, to provide better and cleaner facilities at our public beaches and to offer a better service at many of our heritage sites and museums? Unfortunately the answer is no because the Authority lacks executive powers.

The composition of the MTA consists of people primarily from the private tourism sector which is a good idea, but would it not have made more sense to include some officials from the public sector who play a direct role in tourism such as the Commissioner of Police and a senior official from the ministry of the environment? At least such officials would have the executive powers to ensure that certain things get done. The present MTA composition means that it can only recommend certain policies or direct action to the competent authorities but there is no guarantee that such recommendations will be carried out.

The Strategic Plan in itself remains a professional marketing plan but it must be accompanied by an overall improvement in what Malta has to offer. One hopes that the Minister of Tourism emphasises this point repeatedly during government's weekly Cabinet meetings.