Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1504697
Got that, folks? The Malta HOTELS (ahem!) and Restau- rants Association appears to have finally woken up to a re- ality, that... well, pretty much everybody else has been com- plaining about, for years. I.e., that 'overdevelopment' – coupled with the insuffer- able consequences of climate change – is slowly but surely transforming our island, from the potential Mediterranean jewel that it once was... into, quite literally, 'an overbuilt, overpopulated, and badly mis- managed GARBAGE DUMP!' So far, so good. I happen to agree with that assessment, en- tirely. At the same time, how- ever... do I even need to go on? What's entirely lacking, in that press release, is any correla- tive for Mr Mojo-Jojo's candid, self-sacrificial 'admission of re- sponsibility', above. For instance: while the MHRA takes pains to point out that 'roadworks' are the sole responsibility of 'the pub- lic sector'... it stops short of admitting that 'construction projects' (especially, a couple of truly GARGANTUAN ones, currently going up in a 'tourist area' near you) are overwhelm- ingly the prerogative of 'pri- vate-sector' entrepreneurs.... ... of whom, the vast major- ity just happen to be active within the tourism industry, itself. In other words: most of those 'development projects', that the MHRA is suddenly so concerned about, are actu- ally just new HOTELS, under construction... and the rest an assortment of, erm, RESTAU- RANTS; supermarkets, car- parks, entertainment establish- ments; and all sorts of other amenities used by TOURISTS, as well as locals. Not to mention, of course, 'apartment blocks, everywhere you look' (many of which are now being rented, on short- lease, as 'self-catering holiday flats'). As far as I can make out, then: nearly ALL the ongoing over- development, in this country right now, can be defined as being somehow 'tourism-relat- ed', in one way or another. Yet does the MHRA ever ac- knowledge, in that statement, that this entire 'building boom' it now complains about (and which it tells us is 'scaring pre- cious tourists away'), was all along the result of the sheer greed, and rapaciousness, of some of its own members? Does it ever pause to consider, that literally ALL the new de- velopment that has disfigured classic tourism hot-spots such as Xlendi, Marsalforn – and which now threatens to ruin Comino, and the Blue Lagoon – is literally down to the direct actions, of people involved in the very same tourism indus- try, that the MHRA represents? Well... to be fair to at least SOME of its members: MHRA president Tony Zahra did seem conscious of it, when I inter- viewed him in September 2022. In that interview, he explained the results of a (then-recently commissioned) Deloitte sur- vey, which – in his own words - "took a snapshot of the availa- bility of hotel-accommodation, going forward, if all the ap- proved or pending applications [for new hotels] were to come onstream. And it emerges that – always assuming that all the pending applications will be approved; and that the devel- opments themselves will actu- ally be finalized – we will have more or less DOUBLE [my em- phasis] the number of rooms, that we had in 2019." And when I specifically asked him, "[is] the tourism sector endangering its own future survival, by contributing to making Malta a less attractive destination for tourists?", Mr Zahra replied: "This is a 'chick- en-and-egg' situation, at the end of the day. Because you will only ever get the tourists, for the product that you have. And if you don't have a quality product… you're not going to get 'quality tourists'. Simple as that, really…" All things considered, then: I think it's fair to say that the MHRA President, at least – if not the rest of the association – is aware of a direct causal link, between his own indus- try's excesses, and the ongoing degradation of Malta's tourism product (not to mention, the country as a whole). Ah, but will we ever get an MHRA statement, saying: "WHAT? WE created the is- sues, that now threaten to de- stroy our own industry? WE are responsible for the uglifica- tion of Malta: on whose beauty, our own livelihood depends? It was US, who caused all this litter, and all these overcrowd- ed beaches? WE triggered the events, that led to tourists leav- ing the island in droves? WE created the problem! It's all OUR fault! WE did it! It was us! It was us! It was..." Erm... I guess not, huh? After all: for something like that, you need 'superpowers'. And what we all know this country really needs, right now, is... ... you guessed it! Mr Mo- jo Jojo, from 'The Powerpuff Girls'... maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 JULY 2023 OPINION 11 All the ongoing overdevelopment, in this country right now, can be defined as being somehow 'tourism- related', in one way or another