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8 NEWS 30.6.2022 W ith a heat wave hitting our shores there is very little one can do to avoid the heat. Sure- ly, tourists will complain about the exces- sive heat and reach out for the shade or join crowded beaches. e ease of movement of islanders this summer has made us forgo the wearing of masks and keeping social distance, such that joining pool parties is a popular way how to kill time on a lazy afternoon. But the pandemic has not died com- pletely. Lack of health warnings and a surge for freedom away from lockdowns combined with the increase in dining ta- bles has led to crowding. In fact, hospital admissions due to COVID-19 were more than double. Health authorities are to issue a sec- ond invite to the over 65s, encouraging them to take the second booster dose, based on more COVID-19 cases. As if by stealth, we now need to fight a new sub-variant of Omicron. is has been blamed for the increase in community transmission. A weekly review of the global COV- ID-19 situation compiled by the Euro- pean Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows that Malta's hos- pital admissions were at 14.1 per 100,000 patients in the week ending June 19, up from 6.9 per 100,000 the week before. More statistics show that the spread of Covid has actually been spurned by the removal of heath measures. All this in an atmosphere where MTA gladly warms its hands with glee that as a result of its heavy budget on promotion this season's arrivals will reach 1.9mil- lion. is is approximately 70% of the highest number achieved in 2019, be- fore the start of pandemic. Public Health Superintendent Charmaine Gauci said there were 65 COVID-positive hospital patients, with 30 of them experiencing symptoms and the other 35 tested prior to being admitted. is does not augur well for the open tourist season, the occurrence of open air wedding receptions and thousands throwing caution to the wind at village festas. In a week, 10 deaths attributed to COVID-19 were recorded, with 4,666 active COVID-19 cases, the highest since April 24. is does not warm our hearts that popular summer parties and family beach BBQ's, are a welcome treat to public sector workers currently enjoy- ing reduced summer hours. Add to this, the cost of living pres- sures that are directly attributed to the Ukraine war. Surveys show how 55% of Maltese feel that the war in Ukraine had impacted their standard of living and ful- ly expect it to do so over the course of the coming year. It reduced their standard of living, in terms of the goods and services they could afford, and expect creeping inflation and rising costs of living are due to the rising price of energy (temporarily capped in Malta) and start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Malta is no exception as almost nine in 10 Europeans have either already expe- rienced a reduction in living standards, which they expect to continue over the next year, but there must be a silver lin- ing to make us rejoice that lazy summer days are back and we can enjoy the great outdoors. During this time, we are wit- nessing the return in droves of tourists which add to our merriment and fill va- cant beds which have been idle since the onset of Covid in March 2020. e question arises as to whether we have used the low season to improve our product by upgrading the environment, repairing broken pavements and open- ing new recreational parks. Have we solved the mounting traffic congestion and reduced emissions by facilitating the use of electric transportation? e straight answer is that more roads were built, major parks started but the prob- lem of emissions and replacement of fos- sil fuel in power stations by green energy is still on the drawing books. e national deficit created by sus- taining jobs on furlough during the 24 months of pandemic has sapped our re- solve to innovate and spruce up the is- land. e tourism industry is in need of a clear direction to attract higher-spend- ing clients and begin to move away from reliance on quantity. is has been a slogan for the past decade but each year, the body politic keeps on insisting on spreading the good news about more ar- rivals. ese are the figures that impress voters. Competitor countries like Spain, have set out strategic areas for the different budgets of visiting tourists, yet this strat- ification may be inapplicable for a tiny island of 320 square kilometres. e ho- tel industry must also acknowledge the rising costs of commodities like fuel that cannot continue to be absorbed by the government indefinitely. e writer has followed with interest a seminal study last year prepared by the Chamber of Commerce on this impor- tant sector in tandem with Seed consul- tancy. A number of salient proposals have been reproduced in this article. e Chamber's report shows inter alia that a substantial number of 55,597 licensed tourist beds were available in 2019, and that licensed bed stock could go up to 100,000 by 2030 - if all tourist accommo- dation projects currently in the pipeline materialise. is is certainly unhealthy, even if as predicted, over 3.2 million visitors do ar- rive by 2030. is would result to rough- ly 36.5 million available bed nights. e Chamber's report warns that "is will result in an unprofitable hotel occupan- cy of 61.3 per cent. Adjusting for those who would stay in private non-rented ac- commodation, currently, 16 per cent of all guest nights, this would result in the excess capacity of available bed nights to increase to 17.7 million. It stands to reason that increasing un- licensed bed-stock would dilute occu- pancy even further, which then stands at close to 50 per cent" the report says. Going for higher quality tourists would allow the industry to charge higher rates, which, while generating higher profit- ability, would also improve wages and encourage more locals to join tourism as a career. e Chamber recommends an educa- tional campaign to increase the number of host families; mainly targeting young families and pensioners who could ben- efit from extra income at their particular stage in life. Another urgent reform is to lower VAT on all tourist services, in- cluding restaurants, to 7%. e opening of the Gzira Lido this week by the prime minister was a welcome gesture and a feather in the crown of modern touristic amenity. In the words of the prime min- ister, he augured that such a project was a show of trust by the private sector to continue investing in tourism product. Again, he went for quantity saying that while tourism figures for this summer were encouraging, the aim was to sur- pass pre-pandemic levels. Being lazy on a sunny summer afternoon George Mangion George Mangion is a senior partner at PKF, an audit and consultancy firm, and has over 25 years' experience in accounting, taxation, financial and consultancy services. His efforts have made PKF instrumental in establishing many companies in Malta and established PKF as a leading professional financial service provider on the Island The new Gzira Lido

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