Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1363129
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 APRIL 2021 OPINION Robert Arrigo is PN deputy leader and spokesperson for tourism Robert Arrigo LAST week the government launched its tourism strategy. I had occasion to pre-empt this in a parliamentary speech, spoke about this on Net Live and again on TVAM Monday early morning. My observations are that, I assume, that the government has the green light to go ahead and the benediction of the health authorities. So far, I have heard no such confirmation forthcom- ing. In Europe the magic date announced to open up is around 17 May, so 1 June is viable. Hopefuly, we learnt from the famous 'mechanisms' that went so badly and failed miserably last year. All arrivals should now have an in- jection certificate, swabbing test 48/72 hours before, and have each and every tourist tested on arrival. Our propos- als as PN are that we put up three free tourist swab centres: two in Malta and one in Gozo. In this way, the safety is- sue is addressed. Knowing that the tourists leaving the EU will be less in number, and know- ing that we will have extreme compe- tition, and that only six months are left for 2021 to end, we have to invest heavily in marketing ourselves. We know that our competitors are main- ly islands – bigger capacity islands – some having started already receiving guests. So we have to firstly tackle the bad image that Malta unfortunately has created and exposed to the world. We propose more money than the €20 million announced. This €20 mil- lion are spread over nine local sec- tors, each with tens of stakeholders. I find the amount to be little. This is an island start-up and should go to the foreign partners, tour operators, web- sites, airlines and general public mar- keting. We propose the freezing of the MTA's Manchester United multi-million eu- ro deal, done under former minister Konrad Mizzi, for which I am really uncomfortable. Minister Clayton Bar- tolo should cancel this contract. We propose that real marketing should be attached to the number of real tourists arriving and duly checked and audited. Too many millions of euro have been wasted already. Lo- cal stakeholders need much help and must be seen as start-up companies. Millions are needed here. We propose a total fund of €120 mil- lion to fund all the above, over and above the €20 million local help. This must be seen as an investment, not aid. We welcome four new airlines that will go in and replace other airlines. Three of these are legacy airlines. It seems that Air France will fly from Charles De Gaulle airport while Air Malta will lessen its presence there and concentrate on Orly airport. Polish airlines Lot will also return, linking Luqa to Warsaw, where we previously had another carrier flying to Malta. Dubai Air, a low-cost airline, will be substituting Emirates. And a private airline plans to start flying to Malta from Ukraine in early June. We propose a clear roadmap. We want all past airlines on board, linking to many more airports, and with more frequent flights. A detailed study is prepared and ready to be shared. We propose that we go faster and better and in an organised way. The rebirth of tourism will be a different baby completely. Proposals, details, vision… I assume that we will be no- tified in due time, by government. We are proposing many solid initiatives and proposals after extensive talks with both foreign and local stakehold- ers. Only in this way can we have staff levels and wages returning to 2019 standards. Only this way will our in- vestors keep creating work and creat- ing wealth for all. We propose to view tourism as a pro- fession, with an educational strategy at all levels of the trade and across our educational system. We recommend that we start devising a marketing strategy, to include MTA and private stakeholders. And we propose better training, so that our renowned Mal- tese welcome and smile will return. We propose quality that does not necessarily mean luxury: value for money is paramount because clients will want more for less money, possi- bly being more eccentric. We propose that all hospitality personnel be vacci- nated by 1st June. What about the announced and then postponed vouchers? We believe they should be issued and usable from May to July. We mean business and are ready to cooperate for the sole ben- efit of the people of Malta and Gozo, where half our population benefits from the tourism industry. Experience, vision and success are vi- tal. The PN will go into more detail for a full, fast and responsible recovery. A solid tourism recovery strategy WE are living in a world where un- fortunately we are not giving atten- tion to our youth. The pandemic has caused havoc to everyone, in- cluding our youth, and sometimes I get the impression that as a society we are not giving youth the atten- tion they deserve. We tend to think that this pan- demic has hit everyone, least of all however youth; and therefore take it for granted that they are ok and we do not need to bother too much about them. This is totally false and if we keep going with this mantra then we are doing a total disservice to our youth first and foremost but mostly a dis- service to society. Eventually this will come back to haunt us and as a country we will have to pay a hefty price down the line. We tend to think of our youth as the future only, whereas while we do need to see our youth as the fu- ture, we also have to keep in mind that they are a very active part of present society and respect them both as the present and as the future. Sometimes we tend to take the more comfortable way of thinking of our youth just as the future, this gives us the comfort of therefore not considering them as the present and so basically being in a position to ignore what they are telling us. This is the worst thing we can do. Youth have a story to tell us, they sound warning bells for the future but also know very clearly what type of society they would like to live in. Sometimes they are like our conscious and have the courage to spell out where things are not going so well and what they would like us to do different- ly. Our duty is to listen to them and act. Their contribution to society is immense, I have had the pleasure of meeting so many of the in the past few months most especially, they are the life and soul of most organisations that exist in society, be it cultural – band clubs, thea- tre, arts, film, socio political or- ganisations such as KNZ, student representative councils, work or- ganisations and most of all other voluntary organisations that work so hard to make the lives of the people they work for better. Youth are the first to grab the bull by the horns. When things are not going well they do not stop and grumble and brag about it, but take action so as to ensure that things do not remain the same. In our battle for a better en- vironment youth are at the fore- front of protests against the de- struction of our rural and urban environment, but not only pro- tests but also take initiatives for a better environment for us all. In the fight against corruption, youth were always and still are the forefront of this battle. They believe that politicians are there to serve the people and not vice versa, and when things don't work that way then they are the first to voice their concerns, loud and clear, to make sure that people in power know very well what they are thinking about the present situation and what society they would like to live in. Around the world, for decades and centuries now, we have al- ways witnessed youth at the forefront of change. They have brought down strong political systems that had been oppressing the people for decades; they had the courage to even face death if necessary to ensure that things change and change for the better. There again youth are the fu- ture. In the eyes of our youth we can see how society will develop in the years to come. Our duty is to read that future, to understand their dreams and aspirations and to strive to make the changes that need to be done so as to contrib- ute to making that dream a real- ity. Our duty is not to obscure those dreams, or make life as hard as possible with the excuse that we know better or that we have al- ready been there and done that, but we must work hard to under- stand youth, to understand that the world and society is constant- ly changing, and just as we had our aspirations and worked hard to achieve them when we were younger, now youth have their own aspirations and all we need to do is help them achieve such aspi- rations and not frustrate them. Helping tourism overcome a crisis Karl Gouder Karl Gouder is a Nationalist MP and spokesperson for local government, arts, culture and youth