Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1505544
10 ANALYSIS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 AUGUST 2023 MATTHEW VELLA HERE is a fun fact: gentleman's clubs, Isle of MTV, and cheap tourists hopping on a €20 flight to Malta for weekend bingeing actually happened under Law- rence Gonzi's premiership. But now a Facebook post gone viral has the former Nationalist Party leader complaining about the notoriety Malta has gar- nered as some "new Magaluf", based on reports in British tab- loid and rag-of-choice for Ma- galuf lovers, The Sun. Gonzi believes Malta's tour- ism offering for partygoers who want cheap drink and easy access to CBD edibles – as pro- fessed in The Sun – is some high-water mark for the state of tourism in Malta. "Can some bright spark tell me what's happening with Mal- tese tourism," he said refer- ring to the "shameful picture" painted of the island in The Sun. "We're seen as an island for Britons to enjoy good good, cheap drink and cannabis... Malta requires quality tour- ism. Millions were invested in boutique hotels and five-stars... instead of quality tourists en- joying the beauty, history and culture of Malta, we're packing cheap foreign workers eight at a time in the same apartment." But this rant seems to betray Gonzi;s own record in ushering in a new era of mass tourism which laid the very foundations of what this new breed of tour- ists seeks: cheap airfares and accommodation, and all-round entertainment. When low-cost airlines were brought over to Malta with a generous subsidy on their land- ing fees – the route support scheme – the man in charge was Lawrence Gonzi. Within just a few years, Rya- nair's path to dominance had become clear. In 2009, Air Mal- ta boss Joe Cappello had de- clared that Malta was "already dependent on Ryanair", and predictd that its increased seat capacity would give it "a much stronger negotiating power" in future discussions with the government. Today, Ryanair is the owner of Malta Air, in which the Maltese government owns a token shareholding, and has a base of aircraft sta- tioned here. It was right then that Malta's new era of mass tourism was heralded, with a €1.2 million subsidy on landing fees for Ry- PM who gave Malta Isle of MTV Ryanair doesn't like 'party island' Lawrence Gonzi has a bone to pick: a badly-written Sun takedown of Malta's party island status and liberalised cannabis rules tarnishes the country. But is he aware of the seeds sown when he was premier?